It may be too early to decide who’s in the lead in the race for Government of the Student Body president, but the first in a series of GSB presidential debates was successful in presenting the candidates’ views.

The jury seems to be out on whether a clear winner emerged from the debate, which was not scored, but designed simply to give the candidates a chance to outline their platforms.

“It’s hard to say who won. This was kind of a tame debate,” said Nick Leitheiser, GSB Frederiksen Court senator.

Despite having no declared winner, Andrew Tugan, campaign manager for the ticket of Drew Miller and Jenn Riggs, said he personally saw to it that Miller and Riggs were prepared for the first of three presidential debates.

“We grilled them,” Tugan said. “They probably received about three hours of questions apiece in preparation.”

But Miller, at least, said the forum went in his favor.

“I think it went really well,” he said. “Any debate where the most common phrase is ‘I agree with Drew’ is a good one.”

Others think the debate swung toward the slate of Sophia Magill and William Rock.

“They probably did the best in my mind,” said Henry Alliger, GSB Agriculture senator. “On some of the issues that were debated, like tailgating, the other candidates didn’t seem to have their facts straight.”

Alliger said he planned to support Magill and Rock in the March 8 elections.

Magill said she felt comfortable with the responses she and running mate William Rock gave.

“I’m looking forward to the next one,” she said. “The election will be the true score of how well we did, however.”

For Russell Graves, who is seeking office with running mate Dave Stout, Monday’s debate served as a warm-up for an event next week.

“I think it went fairly well,” he said. “I hope more people show up next week, but it was fun. We were very much different from the other groups.”

The debate was attended by current GSB president Mike Banasiak, who said the event had given the attendees a chance to understand the positions of each of the candidates.

“I think there were a lot of expected answers in this debate,” Banasiak said. “At the next debate, I expect to see more diversity emerge between the slates.”

He said he would not make an endorsement of a candidate until right before the elections, saying it was too early to make an informed decision about which candidate he supports.

At least one attendee felt the debate hadn’t lived up to its hype.

“I was underwhelmed,” said Shawn Carter, who lives with Miller at 801 Crawford Ave. #3. “There were times I didn’t think the questions were being answered, and there was a lot of gratuitous name dropping.”

The next presidential debate will be held at 9 p.m. March 1 at the Maintenance Shop. The final debate will be an ISUtv and radio forum held March 4.