BOSTON – For the first time, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met in person in a presidential debateBut where did Massachusetts voters stand when the 90-minute debate ended?

Advice from debate leader

“It cemented it for me,” said Cate Decoteau, a junior at Boston College, who said she finally decided who she was going to vote for, a statement from Harris sealed the deal. “She was a gun owner. A big problem is how one-sided people are. And I thought that was great, she said, ‘I’m a Democrat, but I have a gun.’ People like me, more in the middle, that was a green flag for me.”

But the debate itself wasn’t all that impressive to some. John Katsulas, director of debate at Boston College, has been teaching debate in college for 40 years.

“Trump, I would give a D- and Harris, I would give an A-,” said Katsulas, who questioned whether the meeting even merited the title of a debate. “It’s not a good example of a debate, because neither of them really answered a lot of the questions.”

Katsulas gave the candidates his own advice in case a debate were to take place before election day.

“Have an organized presentation. Clear, compelling points that are supported by facts and evidence,” Katsulas said. “She at least cited evidence, he actually cited websites. ‘Oh, there’s a website that says they ate dogs and cats.'”

Different conclusions from both parties

Despite criticism, the Massachusetts Republican Party was pleased with Trump’s performance and blamed the moderators for the missteps.

“There have been multiple fact checks, and I have not seen any fact checks from Vice President Harris,” said Logan Trupiano, spokesman for the Mass GOP.

The Massachusetts state Democratic Party said in a statement that Harris has won and that it is confident she will win in November.

“…it is abundantly clear that Vice President Harris is the right choice for America. She has laid out a masterfully crafted plan for how she and Tim Walz will fight for a new path forward,” Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Steve Kerrigan said in a statement.