The Kent State College Democrats gathered in Bowman Hall to share their thoughts on the candidates for the first Democratic presidential debate that aired Tuesday night.

The student organization held a “Debate and Pizza Party” for their members to watch presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee all participate in the debate.

During the meeting, Sanders and Clinton got the largest response from the students.

Jessica Kukura, a sophomore psychology major and a member of the Kent State College Democrats, said she is mostly familiar with Clinton and Sanders among the Democratic candidates.

“Besides Martin O’Malley, I’m not too aware of where the others stand on policy,” she said. “They haven’t gotten much media coverage.”

Although the other candidates are not out of the campaign yet, a number of the student attendees believe that, aside from Clinton and Sanders, the other candidates will not make it far in the presidential elections.

“I don’t think they have much of a chance,” Teresa Powell, a sophomore aeronautics major said. “You never hear anything about them.”

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are the two most popular Democratic candidates so far in the election process, garnering the most coverage.

Powell said she agrees that Clinton is one of the most popular candidates in the campaign.

“She has a big history,” she said. “She has a lot of followers.”

While Powell believes that Clinton is the lead amongst the Democratic candidates, she could also see how voters could support Sanders over Clinton.

“He’s the most progressive,” Powell said. “He’s bringing in the most extreme ideas and I like that.”

The attendees found solidarity on certain subjects, such as when Clinton said she wanted people to stop talking about her emails, with Sanders agreeing with her.

Contact Samantha Nonno at [email protected]