In debate, Utah Rep. Kennedy says he’s ‘just getting started’ while Dem calls him a ‘lap dog’

Republican Rep. Mike Kennedy defended his first term in Congress Thursday as his Democratic challenger cast the race for Utah’s 4th Congressional District as a choice between a “blue dog” or a “lap dog” to the Trump administration. 

Kennedy and Democrat Jonny Larsen met on the debate stage at Snow College in rural Sanpete County, sparring over issues including the Iran War, public lands and immigration enforcement. The debate was hosted by the Utah Debate Commission, moderated by Doug Wilks with the Deseret News and broadcast by PBS Utah.

The candidates are vying to represent a newly drawn, mostly rural and heavily Republican district covering the entirety of Tooele, Juab, Millard, Sanpete and Sevier counties, along with portions of southern Salt Lake and western Utah counties.

Kennedy, now representing Utah’s current 3rd House District under the state’s previous congressional boundaries, said he’s“just getting started making Washington smaller and Utah stronger.” 

Larsen pitched himself as a moderate Democrat focused on issues of fiscal responsibility and national security.

“We should be working on the 90% of issues that we all agree on instead of fighting over the 10% that we don’t,” Larsen said in his closing statement. “So I’d like to ask you: ‘Would you like a ‘blue dog’ or a lap dog to this administration?”

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Kennedy didn’t directly respond to the characterization, focusing his closing remarks on Utah’s pioneer history and saying, “We have the opportunity to work together to build a brighter future here in this state.He told reporters after the debate that he’s worked with Democrats on eight bills he’s sponsored that have won approval from the U.S. House. 

“Every one of them is a collaborative effort with my Democrat colleagues,” Kennedy said. 

When asked during the debate about the cost of gas, Larsen condemned the Iran War, saying “we absolutely need to end this illegal war to bring order back” and drive down fuel prices. 

He criticized Kennedy for voting repeatedly against a war powers resolution that would stop the president from continuing military action without the approval of Congress. 

“As a veteran myself, who did two tours in combat, I understand that cost, and that price that we pay with American blood.”

Kennedy said he’s proud of President Donald Trump’s actions against Iran. 

 “They have to be dealt with. And I recognize that there’s pain in the short run, but there will be significant gain in the long run,” Kennedy said. He added that “to tie the president’s hands in the middle of a national security crisis is not the right thing for us to do.” 

Kennedy said he sponsored legislation that could help drive down gas prices called the License to Drill Act, which seeks to extend federal oil and gas permitting fees.  

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When it comes to efforts to sell or transfer public land into private hands, Kennedy said, “there is an opportunity for us to use those lands in a responsible fashion.” He said he’s in favor of allowing a community with small tracts of land that are federally controlled to use those parcels for developing homes. 

Larsen disagreed, saying he’s concerned about mining, drilling, and effects of those projects on groundwater in rural areas. 

“Let’s not ruin the water supply that we are so desperately in need of right now, and protect our public lands for our indigenous people and tribes who absolutely deserve that,” Larsen said. 

He called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s operations “very sinister.”

“Recently, within this own county, there was a turkey farm that was raided,” Larsen said, referring to reports that ICE officers detained people at a turkey processing plant in Moroni. “Families were separated. How can we do that and still say we have family values?” 

Kennedy said the first focus of federal immigration enforcement should be criminals and as a result of Trump’s policies at the U.S. border, “our citizens are safer. The second thing is we need to make legal immigration easier, and I’m dedicated to that.” 

While answering a question about energy during the debate, Larsen stopped speaking and said he lost his train of thought. He declined to finish his answer in that moment but returned to the topic later in the debate, calling the lapse a “brain fart.” 

Libertarian Taylor Wright and unaffiliated candidate Steven Burt are also competing for the 4th Congressional District, but they didn’t qualify for the debate stage based on a poll commissioned by the Utah Debate Commission.

Election Day is Nov. 3.

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