This research is motivated by the broadcast of Sapa Indonesia Malam on KompasTV with the theme "Gibran Running for President, Accused of Violating the Constitution". This broadcast discusses the candidacy process of Gibran Rakabuming Raka following the Constitutional Court's decision number 90/PUU/XXI/2023, which changed the age requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates. This decision has become controversial in the community because it was issued shortly before the closing of the candidate registration process by the KPU. Additionally, the judge who decided the case is Gibran Rakabuming Raka's uncle, leading to many assumptions in the community aboutissues of perpetuating power through controversial legal decisions. Some of the guests invited to the program included Feri Amsari, Director of the Center for Constitutional Studies atAndalas University, and Yunarto Wijaya, Director of Charta Politika. This study aims to understand how students perceive Gibran Rakabuming Raka's candidacy process. This research uses a qualitative reception analysis approach with the encoding-decoding model by Stuart Hall to understand the reception of students in Surabaya. Stuart Hall divides audience reception categories into three positions: dominant-hegemonic, negotiated position, and oppositional position. Data collection techniques were conducted through in-depth interviews. The results show that students' interpretations are very diverse. Of the nine informants, six informants are in the dominant-hegemonic position, namely informants I, II, III, VI, VII, and IX. They agree with the opinions of the speakers in the broadcast. Furthermore, three informants are in the oppositional position, namely informants IV, V, and VIII. They consider that the problem lies with the state institutions, not the candidates, so Gibran's candidacy process remains legitimate.