Utah’s 2024 debate for governor features three candidates

SALT LAKE CITY – While all eyes are on Tuesday night’s presidential debate, Utah will hold a debate of its own on Wednesday for its highest office, governor.

Three candidates will take the Utah Debate Commission stage – Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, Democrat Rep. Brian King, and Libertarian Robert Latham. Jason Perry, the Director of Hinckley Institute of Politics, will moderate the debate.

“There will be a broad range of ideas coming out in this debate tomorrow night,” Perry said. “These are three candidates with very distinct positions that they will make well known; I think for the people of Utah who are watching it, they will watch this debate, and they will have a pretty good idea who they’re aligned with.”

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All the questions and topics have to remain anonymous, so Perry couldn’t elaborate on any topics he plans to discuss, but he urged Utahns to watch.

“This is a very important position for the state of Utah,” he said “The policy direction, the group that stands for the execution of the laws, which are under fire substantially here these days.”

Utah’s other branch of government, the Utah Legislature, has recently come under fire for calling an emergency special session to overturn a Utah Supreme Court ruling on initiatives by proposing a constitutional amendment to voters. And the fate of whether Amendment D even makes it on the ballot is likely to be decided by the courts hours before the debate starts.

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“So this is an important race to watch,” Perry said.

Director of the Walker Institute of Politics at Weber State, Leah Murray said one of the state’s top issues though, according to recent polling, is housing affordability.

“The question is probably all three of those candidates; they all probably think it’s a problem, and hopefully, there’s some daylight between them and how you solve the problem,” she said.

Murray said that debates in general are still very important for voters because they’re oftentimes the only way voters get to hear directly from candidates, in a live format, without political spin of campaign mailers or communications.

“This is the moment where you are going to see live in real time these humans answer questions about important issues of the day,” she said.

Walker, who teaches Political Science at Weber State, said that while voters should be looking for policy answers, they will also have a chance to see how the candidates answer questions or respond to jabs in that live setting.

“Those kind of nonpolicy human variables, you get a lot of information in a debate And I think the debates, the best place to get that information,” Walker said.

Murray also hopes Utahns, and anyone who also watches Tuesday’s Presidential Debate, will get as much context about policies as they can.

“I am always concerned if I only get the kind of like the derivative. So, if I watch TikTok tomorrow to see what people say, you’re only getting snippets, right?” Murray said, “I think it’s a good idea (to) grab some popcorn, eat some pizza, sit down and watch this like you’re watching a sporting event because this is the best politics has to offer.”

The governor debate starts Wednesday at 6 p.m. on KSL TV.