USF Hosts Republican Presidential Debate

The Republican campaign trail will stop near Temple Terrace Jan. 23 when the hosts a Republican presidential primary debate.

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams will moderate the discussion, which will air live on NBC and is being presented by NBC News, the St. Petersburg Times, National Journal and the Florida Council of 100.

“This is the perfect place for candidates to tell us their ideas for our future,” said USF President Judy Genshaft in a press release. “Universities represent the future, and students will want to hear how anyone who wants to be president can shape the years to come.”

The debate will follow the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. The Florida primary takes place Jan. 31.

This will be the first weekday primetime airing of a primary debate on a broadcast network in the 2012 election cycle, the USF press release states. Telemundo also will broadcast the debate, which was first announced in April, in its entirety with simultaneous Spanish-language translation. The event will stream live on usf.edu and tampabay.com.