Eyeing Mike Lee’s U.S. Senate seat, Republicans Becky Edwards and Ally Isom faced each other in the last debate ahead of Utah’s June 28 primary election on Thursday night. Three podiums stood on the studio floor at KSL, but one podium, meant for the incumbent, remained empty.
Lee declined to participate in Thursday’s event hosted by the Utah Debate Commission, saying that the commission “wasn’t willing to work in collaboration with the Utah GOP.” Instead, Lee defended his seat against Edwards and Isom on Wednesday night at the debate hosted by the Utah Republican Party.
The candidates didn’t clash on topics. In fact, they agreed on how to approach several policy decisions. Rather, Edwards and Isom criticized Lee’s performance in Washington, arguing that he’s all talk with little to show for it.
“When I look at Mr. Lee’s record,” Isom said, “there’s a lot of rhetoric and not enough action.”
Both swore if they were elected to serve Utahns in the U.S. Senate, they would “get things done” through bipartisanship and a solution-oriented lens.
“Congress is broken,” Edwards said. “Mike Lee is one of the major contributors to the obstructionism and gridlock that we’re facing right now that is leaving the people of Utah behind.”
However, Lee’s absence gave Edwards and Ally Isom a chance to appeal to registered Republican voters who are undecided or torn between who should replace Lee. The debate honed in on issues rattling Americans across the nation, including gun violence, inflation and energy policy.
On gun violence
In wake of the latest school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, debate moderator Doug Wilks, the executive editor of the Deseret News, asked the candidates what they would do to protect the nation from various forms of gun violence.
Isom and Edwards immediately expressed their condolences to the families impacted by the tragedies.
Although, Isom expressed hesitancy around proposed gun violence solutions, including red flag laws — “Show me a red flag law that works,” she added.
Isom noted she isn’t opposed to the idea of “yellow flag laws,” which include mental health professionals in the decision to remove the right for someone to carry a firearm, but reiterated that she hasn’t seen a red flag that actually accomplishes what it sets out to do.
In response to the Democratic push to ban assault rifles and raise the minimum age allowed to purchase a gun, Isom didn’t outwardly oppose the idea. She said that some people shouldn’t have access to those kinds of weapons, using her own children as an example.
“I have delightful young men in my home and with all due respect for them,” Isom said, “their frontal lobes are not ready to own an assault rifle.”
Edwards, who is a former state lawmaker, said the topic of gun violence has been at the top of constituents’ minds on the campaign trail.
The persistent relevance of gun violence is an opportunity for Congress to come together and “actually address it in a thoughtful and pragmatic way,” Edwards said.
She signaled toward solving gun violence by increasing mental health support and having strong gun safety education. Additionally, Edwards believes firearm regulation should mostly be left up to the states.
“We need to have conservations on the federal level that can support individual state rights on this issue,” Edwards said.
On the economy
Isom, who is a businesswoman and previously worked for the former Gov. Gary Herbert administration, criticized the amount of spending by the federal government and called on Washington to “stop printing Monopoly money” that is contributing to inflation and the growing deficit.
To control spending, Isom said Congress shouldn’t receive another paycheck until they balance the budget, just as Utah does every year. She also said that Congress needs to cap the debt ceiling.
“Take a look at the last 12 years and the national debt,” Isom said. “What has Mike Lee done to address that?”
Edwards also criticized Congress’s spending habits, saying the amount of money Congress is forking over only “puts a burden on small business and families across this nation that is almost unbearable.”
To lower the price at the gas pump, both candidates supported the re-opening of the Keystone XL Pipeline that was halted by President Joe Biden, instead of relying on “bad actors abroad” to supply oil.
Edwards recommended America start looking at the renewable energy sources available throughout the country, rather than relying on other counties to fuel our energy grid.
Isom, taking a similar approach, said in order to lower the price of gas, the Biden Administration should tap into the nation’s oil reserves and speed up the approval of oil extraction permits on U.S. soil.
