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SALT LAKE CITY — With Labor Day in the rearview mirror and the final push for the November general election underway, the Utah Debate Commission on Saturday announced the slate of seven debates for statewide and congressional offices in the Beehive State.
Three candidates for governor will kick things off Wednesday evening at 6 p.m., with the other contests scheduled between Oct. 1 and Oct. 24. The commission also released the list of candidates who qualified for the gubernatorial debate by polling with at least 10% support — or being within the margin of error — in a poll conducted by the organization.
The debates will be held at universities throughout the state, according to a press release, and members of the public are invited to attend. They will also be streamed online at KSL.com and on the air on KSL, Ch. 5.
"It is exciting to see the commission partner with students to organize debates at universities statewide," said Mary Weaver Bennett, the chairwoman of the commission's Universities Committee and director of the Center for Politics and Public Service at Southern Utah University. "Through direct engagement with students and community leaders, the commission is fulfilling its crucial mission of educating citizens about the importance of elections and promoting lifelong civic engagement."
Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, Democratic state Rep. Brian King and attorney and Libertarian candidate Robert Latham have all qualified for Wednesday's debate. Cox and King led in the commission's poll with 48.1% and 27% respectively, while Latham earned 6.8% support from the 518 respondents polled, which is within the margin of error of 4.31% from the 10% threshold.
A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted last month showed Cox leading with 56% of the vote, followed by King, 17%, independent Tommy Williams, 6% and Latham, 4%. Seventeen percent of respondents said they didn't know who they would vote for.
State Rep. Phil Lyman — who lost to Cox in the June primary election but has filed to run as a write-in candidate in November — will not be on the debate stage. Twenty-two respondents to the poll wrote in some version of "Phil Lyman" or "Phillip Lyman" and another seven simply wrote "Lyman," but the combined responses still fell short of the threshold.
Polling for the October debates has yet to be released.
"Robust public debates are essential to the democratic process and the Utah Debate Commission looks forward to all qualified candidates participating in another compelling and widely viewed public debate season this fall," said Ed Allen, a co-chairman of the commission.
All debates will begin at 6 p.m. Here is the complete schedule:
- Governor debate: Wednesday, Sept. 11, at Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City
- Attorney general debate: Tuesday, Oct. 1, at Southern Utah University in Cedar City
- Congressional District 1 debate: Tuesday, Oct. 8, at Utah State University in Logan
- U.S. Senate debate: Thursday, Oct. 10, at Weber State University in Ogden
- Congressional District 2 debate: Monday, Oct. 14, at Utah Tech University in St. George
- Congressional District 3 debate: Thursday, Oct. 17, at Brigham Young University in Provo
- Congressional District 4 debate: Thursday, Oct. 24, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City
