With Iowa’s gubernatorial election less than a month away, candidates for lieutenant governor focused on youth issues at a debate on campus Tuesday.

Incumbent Sally Pederson, a Democrat, is running with Gov. Tom Vilsack. Debi Durham is the running mate of Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Gross.

The forum, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, covered issues including quality higher education, the rainy day fund, conserving natural resources, women in politics and keeping college graduates in Iowa.

The state government needs to make sure students have access to higher education, Durham said.

“We need to make sure that tuition costs are stable,” Durham said. “This will take a huge commitment from the state that these universities have their resources.”

Pederson also said education needs to be a priority.

Though no one likes increased tuition, if the quality of the universities will be compromised without the hikes, there isn’t an option, she said.

The candidates also touched on environmental concerns and the conservation of natural resources in Iowa.

“I demand clean air, clean water and green spaces, like most citizens,” Durham said.

Pederson said the Vilsack administration should be proud.

“We are No. 1 in the nation in private land conservation under Vilsack,” she said.

The administration is also responsible for Iowa’s water-monitoring program and has encouraged federal programs that provide incentives to farmers to take part in conservation measures.

Pederson urged audience members to spend time before the election studying the issues and candidate platforms.

Durham said she is committed to delivering big results if elected. “We will work hard every single day to build a greater Iowa lasting for the following generations,” she said.

Peggy Talbert, adviser of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, said the organization helped set up the forum, planned the format and recruited students for the panel from the YouthVote Coalition.

The student panel included ISU students Hannah Schoenthal-Muse, junior in liberal arts and sciences, and Michael Banasiak, junior in management information systems and director of government relations for the Government of the Student Body.

Shannon Thomas, a senior at Ames High School, also sat on the panel.

“I got to meet the candidates and hear them speak and also ask questions that were relevant to me. It opened my eyes,” she said.

“Research shows that young people are more likely to vote if they meet the candidates,” said Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.