In an effort to seek input for an upcoming debate of candidates for Missouri’s 8th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, the student group hosting the debate is soliciting questions from the public online.

The Associated Students of the University of Missouri (ASUM) student chapter at Missouri University of Science and Technology is hosting a debate among candidates for Missouri’s 8th Congressional District. The debate will be held from 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, in Leach Theatre of Castleman Hall, 10th and Main streets on the Missouri S&T campus. The debate is free and open to the public.

As part of the planning process for the debate, ASUM is soliciting questions from the public, including Missouri S&T students, faculty and staff, on the ASUM website. To submit a question, log on to the website and click on the link labeled “Submit Your Questions.”
The questions will be screened by ASUM members, who will consider them for use in the debate. ASUM members will make the final decision on which questions will be posed to the candidates during the debate.

All four candidates for the 8th District seat have agreed to participate in the debate. They are incumbent U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, a Republican, and challengers Larry Bill (Independent), Tommy Sowers (Democrat) and Rick Vandeven (Libertarian).

Dr. Larry Gragg, chair and Curators’ Teaching Professor of history and political science at Missouri S&T, will serve as debate moderator.

ASUM is a non-partisan student organization that lobbies on behalf of the interests of students from all four University of Missouri campuses.

Missouri’s 8th District encompasses 28 counties in south-central and southeast Missouri. The district extends to the Missouri Bootheel region in the southeast to Taney County in the southwest. Phelps County – the home county of Rolla and Missouri S&T – lies at the district’s northwestern edge.

For more information about the debate, contact ASUM by calling 573-341-4970 or by email at asum@mst.edu.