Utah’s mostly civil debate over the 3rd District turns sour after a rebuke at the final handshake

The debate Thursday between the Republican and Democrat vying to become the next representative for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District was fairly civil until the final moments, with few tense exchanges or rebuttals.

Republican Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine, told reporters in a post-debate crowd that his Democratic opponent, Glenn Wright, made a comment during their post-debate handshake that was “frankly shocking.”

“I believe we should be polite and considerate, and the last comment he made was neither polite nor considerate. … I don’t think we need to belittle or name-call. I don’t believe we should use profanity while working on these important issues.”

When reporters pressed Kennedy about what Wright told him, Kennedy declined to elaborate and told them to get the tape from Brigham Young University, where the debate organized by the Utah Debate Commission was taking place.

The remark wasn’t captured on a livestream of the debate — but when reporters asked Wright what he said to Kennedy during their handshake, Wright laughed and asked, “Was that caught on tape?”

“I told him he was a — he had a good kind of BS, very professional,” Wright said. “Because I think a lot of his answers didn’t really answer the question. For this reason. Probably half of his answers were just, you know, rhetoric.”

Asked if the comment was appropriate, Wright replied: “Why not?”

“It showed him what I thought of him. I don’t think he deserves to be elected to this position. I think he’s going to be a danger to this country and to Utah,” Wright said, criticizing Kennedy for supporting former President Donald Trump in his bid to return to the White House against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Wright further condemned Trump for having “no morals,” trying to “overthrow the government” and “having conversations with the war criminal from Moscow,” referring, among other things, to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The man is a serious threat to our constitution and our national defense. Kennedy supports him, as does the entire Republican delegation.”

It was the only sensitive moment in an otherwise cordial exchange that focused on policy issues — including questions about how the candidates will approach affordable housing, the national debt, omnibus spending bills, small business aid, inflation, protecting children on social media, energy policy, and more would. Artificial intelligence regulations, water policy, women’s health after the Dobbs decision, immigration reform, border security, fentanyl overdoses and more.

For the full picture, watch the entire debate here.

Although Wright’s post-debate comments were directed at Trump, the divisive former president was only mentioned in passing a few times throughout most of the debate. Kennedy – although he supports Trump and was among the Utah state delegates who voted for Trump at the Republican National Convention in July – focused his debate answers on repeatedly showcasing his background as a family doctor, lawyer, business owner and state lawmaker to provide.

During his campaign, Kennedy promised to bring conservative principles to Congress. On Thursday night, he repeatedly said the government needed to “get out of the way,” whether on housing, business regulations or AI.

Wright, a Vietnam War veteran and pilot, repeatedly pointed to his time as a Habitat for Humanity board member and as a Summit County councilman, arguing he had the expertise to increase housing availability by applying for federal grants for local affordable housing projects.

In the red state of Utah, Wright likely has insurmountable odds to beat Kennedy. The winner on Nov. 5 will fill a vacancy left by outgoing Rep. John Curtis, who is running to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate.

Both Kennedy and Wright, the only two candidates in the race, qualified for Thursday’s debate after both garnered enough support in an August 29-September 19 Utah Debate Commission poll by Salt Lake City pollster Lighthouse Research had.

Kennedy got 61.4% in that poll, while Wright got just under 33%. The poll of 504 randomly selected registered Utah voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.36 percentage points, according to the Utah Debate Commission, which also made clear that its results should not be “misinterpreted as predictions about the outcome of a race.” ”