Telegraph photo by ADAM URQUHART People supporting various campaigns line the sidewalk at the edge of Saint Anselm College ahead of the Democratic Debate Friday night.

MANCHESTER — Seven candidates qualified to stand side by side during the ABC News Democratic Debate in Manchester New Hampshire Friday night to make a last minute push and reel in any undecided voters just days before the First-In-The-Nation primary.

The sidewalk at the edge of the entrance to Saint Anselm College’s campus was lined with supporters fiercely chanting for their candidate of choice while waving signs to those passing by. This primetime event in partnership with Apple news and WMUR-TV aired from 8 – 11 p.m. Friday night and due to the debate going beyond 11 p.m., The Telegraph will offer complete coverage in the Sunday edition.

Meanwhile, those passing through the college campus, either checking out the scene of the debate or actually attending the event, had plenty to say regarding the New Hampshire primary Tuesday.

Being an immigrant herself, Oriagna Inirio, who is a senior at Saint Anselm, said that is the most important thing for her when considering a candidate. Aside from the issue of immigration, racism and education are two other topics that stand out to her when looking at the various candidates that will appear on the ballot come Tuesday.

“I have to see based on tonight, what they say on some of the questions to decide,” Inirio said. “I’m on the fence between a lot of them.”

While Inirio was undecided ahead of Friday’s debate, Karen and Steve Facques have a good idea about who their candidate of choice is. The couple is interested in the issue of global warming, and Karen said for her there are other issues she cares about, but global warming is her most forefront issue.

“Also, I think there’s a lot to be said for temperment of the candidate, and I think Pete Buttigieg has a good one to match the times right now,” Karen said.

Her husband is also leaning toward Buttigieg. Steve said similarly as his wife said, civility is something that stands out to him as well, while also mentioning global warming and bringing realistic ideas forward. Steve said it’s one thing to pitch ideas, while the possibility of implementing those ideas is another.

Jonathan Pereira was also walking around the college campus Friday night and said as an individual, he has a lot of issues trying to trust these people who are running for a position that carries so much power. Pereira said it is a huge position these candidates are trying to fill, but also said there are things he enjoys about all of them that are running.

“I would go for probably Bernie or Pete and doing so just cause I think that they would probably have the best chance of making it,” Pereira said.

Pereira said he feels that is just the strongest way to go, more or less because what they are putting out there is something he will feel comfortable with. On the other hand, for Lucas Cutting, the only Democratic candidate he would really trust is Tulsi Gabbard. Cutting said when it comes to the candidates in 2020, everyone is focused on who is going to beat President Donald Trump.

“I don’t think we should focus on that,” Cutting said. “That’s something we don’t need to focus on.”

Instead, he believes people have to focus on who the best candidate is that should be sitting in the Oval Office. One issue he is really focused on is corruption in America, and how social media plays a part in that. Cutting believes this is one of the biggest problems in today’s age that a lot of people overlook.

“I feel like every candidate today has a degree of corruption that you can really dive into,” Cutting said.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.