Clean Elections Concludes Successful Primary Debate Series Surpassing Reach Expectations

Debate recordings and archives are another useful tool for voters in the primary election

PHOENIX, July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Clean Elections, Arizona's non-partisan source for voter education is celebrating the halfway point of its historic debate program.

This year's series premiered in partnership with the Arizona Media Association (AMA) at BitFire Studios with hundreds of media brands leveraging the debate content including major debates being simulcast and all others distributed digitally throughout the state. Arizona voters made Clean Elections the state's authorized agency for debates and voter education in a 1998 initiative.

"We are very pleased with the impact of our new debates format. The content reached more Arizona voters than ever in the history of our debates," said Clean Elections Chair Mark Kimble. "Now voters can refer to the recordings as they make their final choices on their primary ballot on July 30."

Federal and statewide candidate debates from the primary election season are archived on the Arizona Media Association YouTube channel. In May and June, these debates aired live in partnership with dozens of Arizona media brands reaching audiences via TV, radio, and print/digital. In addition, Clean Elections' long-running legislative debate series is available on its YouTube channel. Arizona's closely contested election for control of the legislature has been driving state political coverage. 

"Being a part of making Arizona political debates more accessible to voters, is very meaningful for Arizona's local media community and a win for civic engagement," said Arizona Media Association President and CEO Chris Kline. "The support we received from our member media brands was amazing in support of democracy."

Alongside support from key media and advertising partners, the debate collaboration will produce approximately 30 political debates before the November election for both federal and statewide races plus several select county-level races. All debates were simulcast with Spanish audio translation and included an American Sign Language interpreter. General election debates will start in September.

Another positive addition this year has been a rotating moderator panel consisting of four experienced journalists including: Steve Goldstein, Richard Ruelas, Jim Nintzel, and Mary Rábago.

Primary Election Debate Highlights:

• Debate content was put to use by local media brands 529 times, including TV broadcasts, radio broadcasts, and digital streams, averaging 41 local media partners per debate.
• Current digital usage logged over 16 total days of watch time or 408.1 hours, with more than 10 minutes of engaged time per viewer.
• Journalists from 28 media brands were on site for candidate interviews after the debates, including participation from local Arizona TV stations, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and digital-only operations as well as visits from a French press agency and the New York Times.

"There is no doubt that these are the best non-partisan candidate debates in the state, they were far-reaching and the production caliber reached new levels. We look forward to delivering the same experience for the general election," added Gina Roberts, Clean Elections Voter Education Director.

Just like the primary election, voters can submit questions for the general election debates via email at [email protected] or by calling 602-364-3477 (toll-free at 877-631-8891). Debate carriage and coverage requests should be directed to Nate Kelly at the Arizona Media Association at [email protected].

Voters can find out when and where to tune into these Arizona debates by visiting the debate page on the Clean Elections website. Follow Clean Elections on Facebook (@AZCleanElections) and Instagram (@AZCleanElections) for the latest nonpartisan election information.

SOURCE Citizens Clean Elections Commission