Liberty, Hampton partner to host second U.S. Senate Town Hall

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, the main contenders in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race, spoke to an in-house audience of about 700 during a Town Hall held at Hampton University on Wednesday night. The event was the second presented through a partnership between Hampton, Liberty University, and the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. The first Town Hall was held at Liberty on Sept. 20.

In addition to the studio audience, various television stations and websites carried or streamed the event live, including C-Span.

In the same format as the first Town Hall, students sat on the stage behind the candidates and had an opportunity to ask each of them questions.

“The students were nervous,” said moderator April Woodard, a journalism professor at Hampton. “You have to ask questions. You have to do all the research. You have to study. I think they had an opportunity to really get a hands-on experience in preparing for something like this.”

More than 20 Liberty students traveled to Hampton, along with faculty and staff members. They attended the Town Hall and also toured the university.

“Hampton University was so gracious in extending their hospitality to us,” said freshman Jack Collins. “It was great to experience the history and culture there. The Town Hall was a great way to engage young voters and inform them. We got a good glimpse of where both candidates stand on a variety of tough issues.”

Both universities look forward to presenting similar events together in the future.

Kelly Harvey-Viney, director of Hampton’s Center for Public Policy, said: “This is the first of many, I promise you. This is going to be an amazing partnership.”

“I could not have been more pleased with our partnership with Hampton University in producing these two U.S. Senate Town Halls,” added Robert Hurt, executive director of Liberty’s Center for Law & Government. “Together, we were able to reach all across our two campuses and across the entire Commonwealth and nation to provide a platform where the two Senate candidates could offer their competing visions for Virginia. I believe the quality of our program was unparalleled. In this time of political turmoil, I believe our audiences welcomed not only the thoughtful interaction with the candidates, but also the outstanding questions from our students — arguably the citizens who have the most at stake in these elections.”

September’s Town Hall was the latest in a string of live televised political events held on Liberty’s campus, hosted by the Center for Law & Government. The Virginia GOP gubernatorial debate was held in April 2017 and the Republican primary debate for U.S. Senate was held this past April.