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SALT LAKE CITY — Congressional candidate and GOP convention nominee Celeste Maloy and Republican primary rival Bruce Hough faced off Tuesday on some of the most pressing and divisive topics of the day during a televised debate that found the candidates mostly in agreement and only occasionally willing to return punches.
The final in a 10-debate series arranged by Maloy to speak to voters across the 2nd Congressional District before the Sept. 5 GOP primary election to replace Rep. Chris Stewart revolved around two "elephants in the room" — news that broke Monday night of former President Donald Trump's fourth indictment in as many months and the absence of one of the three qualifying Republican candidates, Becky Edwards.
After choosing not to attend the previous nine debates held in counties across the state, Edwards also opted to forgo Tuesday's debate hosted by KSL during its 6 p.m. news hour, a fact that did not go unnoticed by debate moderator and KSL NewsRadio host Boyd Matheson.
"All three candidates who will appear on the Republican primary ballot were invited to appear tonight. Celeste Maloy and Bruce Hough chose to make the effort to engage in the public debate," Matheson said during his introductory comments. "We're grateful to have both of you here tonight for this crucial conversation."
Matheson said frequent and friendly debates are important, something he said has been missing in recent congressional elections.
Mail-in primary ballots began arriving at the homes of registered Republicans in the 2nd District shortly before the debate, with Edwards attending several voter-outreach events organized by her campaign on Tuesday instead of attending the debate, a spokesperson for the Edwards campaign told the Deseret News.
Despite facing some tough questions and stifling heat during their earlier debates together — held in town halls, classrooms and fire stations and in front of groups ranging from 20 to 200 people — both Hough and Maloy had to adjust to the demands of being on-air as they were equipped with microphones and told where to look when responding to questions.
Following opening statements in which they recounted their origin stories and motivation for running for Congress, the two candidates were asked to comment on the former president's ongoing legal troubles and whether they thought the charges were examples of the "weaponization" of the judicial system.
Hough affirmed his stance shared in former debates that federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, had indeed been politicized and turned against the most recent Republican president and shared three steps that needed to be taken.
"Everyone should enter into this process with the presumption of innocence. Number two, we should follow due process. And number three, we should be very, very careful about allowing the media, and others," to make Trump's legal cases a partisan issue, Hough said.
Maloy said that as a lawyer she was wary of opining on evolving legal situations but said the charges appeared to her to be politically motivated and emphasized the need for a "fair and speedy trial."
"We need to make sure the legal process moves quickly and fairly so that it doesn't bleed into the political process and look like we are a banana republic, third-world country where we use prosecution and the law to keep people off of the ballot or change the outcome of the election," she said, citing her experience as Stewart's former chief legal counsel who worked with him on the congressional Select Committee to Investigate the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Matheson also pressed the candidates on other issues dividing today's Republican Party, including how to address the country's rising debt, whether to continue financial support to Ukraine, what solutions might reconcile border security with expanded legal pathways for immigration and why abortion policy is better left to the states.
Hough and Maloy took turns answering, both saying the nation's debt and recent credit downgrade need to be addressed by reining in inflation, increasing energy independence and cutting funding to federal agencies.
They also agreed that funding for Ukraine's fight against Russia remained essential to national security and America's place in the world, but both made it clear that continued support depended on a clearly defined exit strategy and the condition that U.S. involvement would not involve boots on the ground.
One of the few disagreements between the two candidates came on the topic of abortion. While both labeled themselves pro-life, Hough sees the issue of abortion restriction as belonging solely to the states, a constitutional position he said was reaffirmed by the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Maloy, on the other hand, said although she hopes states move to limit abortion access, as a member of Congress she would never pass up the opportunity to "sponsor legislation or vote for legislation that protects the rights of the unborn." She said that as a female candidate, she has a "unique voice on this debate" and the best way to protect life is to put programs in place to make sure "bringing a child into this world is the easiest option."
In her closing statement, Maloy said she does not come from a background of fame or wealth, and she is running to represent regular Utahns and to prove that people like her can make a difference.
Hough differentiated himself from Edwards and Maloy by touting his business background, as well as his voting record.
"I've done something that neither of my opponents have done. I voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020," Hough said, referring to Edwards' decision to vote for Biden in 2020 and Maloy's decision not to vote at all in the last two general elections.
After the cameras turned off Hough and Maloy shook hands and talked about how great of an experience touring the state and meeting constituents had been.
The two candidates are currently in talks over having one more debate in Salt Lake County, this time with an in-person audience.
