Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The United States government is less than a month away from a government shutdown and the two leading candidates for Utah's 2nd Congressional District seat both said they support a bipartisan solution — at least to a point — during a debate Thursday night.
Democratic state Sen. Kathleen Riebe and Republican Celeste Maloy squared off at the Eccles Broadcast Center on the University of Utah campus Thursday night ahead of next month's general election to replace former Rep. Chris Stewart.
Riebe, who has run as a fiscal moderate and received an endorsement from the fiscally responsible Blue Dog Democrats, said she would never support a shutdown.
"We should cut spending but not to the detriment of safety and security across the world," she said.
Maloy, on the other hand, generally said a shutdown should be avoided unless it's the only option to decrease federal spending.
"I'd support bipartisanship as long as we're not moving in the wrong direction," she said.
When asked by reporters if she was advocating for using the threat of a shutdown as a tool to cut spending, Maloy said "I don't think that's what I was trying to advocate, I was advocating reducing spending."
"I think I said the only time I would vote for one is if the alternative was a big increase in spending," she added. "That's not the only alternative most of the time."
What is America's role in the world?
Fights over spending have intensified in Washington as American allies have been embroiled in conflict in Ukraine and Israel. Debate moderator Mary Weaver Bennet, director of the Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service at Southern Utah University, focused on the nation's role in aiding those allies for the first third of the debate.
When asked if she'd support President Joe Biden's request for $105 billion for aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the southern border, Maloy demurred, saying that government funding originates in the House of Representatives, not with the president.
"The United States still has a role to play in the world," she said, invoking the "shining city on a hill" characterized by former President Ronald Reagan.
Maloy said she supports the ability of allies to defend themselves but didn't take a position on Biden's requested funding.
"I don't know if we're doing enough in Ukraine," she told KSL.com when asked if the U.S. should continue to provide military and humanitarian aid. "Most of the time on the campaign trail, I've said we don't have enough accountability for what they've done with the resources we've already sent them."
Riebe said the U.S. needs more security at the border, but said there should be a way for people to enter the nation legally. On Ukraine, she said "we need to stand by our allies."
Although Congress has failed to pass meaningful immigration reform for years, Riebe said the nation might be at a "worst-case" scenario that could prompt agreement and action from both sides.
"I think what's happening at the border is unacceptable and I'm looking for solutions," she said.
Trust in elections
Many Republicans have continued to baselessly claim that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Maloy insisted that Biden won, but said trust in American institutions is low.
"My biggest fear for this country is that we, as Americans, will just walk away from the American experiment because we've lost faith in the system, and I'm going to do everything I can to help restore that faith because I still think it's the best system we've got," she said.
Nonetheless, she said she was impressed with the speech given by newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who was a key player in an effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Maloy said she was unaware of those efforts.
Riebe held up Utah as a model for election trust and security, pointing out that the state has used mail-in ballots — which were at the center of several election conspiracy theories — for years.
"I'm the candidate that's voted in both of the last two elections for the president," she added, taking aim at Maloy who didn't vote the past couple of cycles while working for Rep. Chris Stewart in Washington out of concern voting absentee could reflect poorly on her boss if her out-of-state ballot was flagged as fraudulent.
She also criticized Trump for continuing to spread baseless allegations of voter fraud, saying "there is no law and there is no order" in the GOP, which prides itself on being the party of law and order.
What's next?
Stewart's resignation announcement in May kicked off a blitz of a campaign that drew dozens of challengers from across the political spectrum.
Riebe, a school teacher and one of the few Democrats in the Utah Senate, won handily at the Democratic convention, advancing to the general election.
Maloy, on the other hand, has faced a more contentious path to the Republican nomination. The former chief legal staffer to Stewart earned endorsements from the outgoing congressman and several prominent Utah politicians but took several rounds of voting in the GOP convention to advance as the party's candidate.
Even after winning the Republican nomination at the state convention, she faced a close-fought primary election after former state lawmaker Becky Edwards and longtime national Republican committeeman Bruce Hough collected enough signatures to qualify.
Thursday's contest is the first and only debate sponsored by the Utah Debate Commission between the two, who lead a field of third-party and independent candidates. Candidates from the Libertarian, Constitution and United Utah Party did not clear the polling threshold to qualify for the debate.
Both candidates appeared pleased with their performance during the debate, with Maloy leaning on her experience as a congressional staffer and Riebe making the case for a moderate, fiscally-minded Democrat in a district that leans heavily Republican.
The general election is scheduled for Nov. 21.
You can watch the full debate below:
