Utah Senate hopefuls clash over Trump, abortion and immigration in debate

Rep. John Curtis fended off a barrage of attacks from his literal, and figurative, left and right during Thursday night’s contentious debate over who should replace Sen. Mitt Romney.
Curtis mostly ignored criticisms coming from Democratic candidate Caroline Gleich, who framed the 3rd District congressman as too conservative, and Independent American candidate Carlton Bowen, who berated Curtis for not being “pro-Trump” enough.
All three candidates, when not arguing over whether Curtis was overly or insufficiently partisan, offered substantive policy responses to the questions dominating the 2024 election cycle on immigration, abortion and foreign policy.
According to Curtis, it is precisely an emphasis on party-line messaging over problem solving that has prevented Congress from making more progress on these issues.
“What you’re seeing in a little bit of this back and forth — although not terrible — is exactly what Utah voters are tired of,” Curtis said. “It makes great campaign slogans, but it’s not governing.”
The first and only general election debate in Utah’s U.S. Senate race was hosted by the Utah Debate Commission at Weber State University’s Austad Auditorium and was moderated by Glen Mills, the director of communications for the Utah Department of Corrections.
Curtis, who has represented parts of Salt Lake County, Utah County and all of eastern Utah, since he was elected to the U.S. House in 2017, said he had a “pattern of success” as one of the most productive and accessible lawmakers in the country, as well as his expertise on public lands, energy production and U.S.-China relations.
Gleich, a professional skier and environmental lobbyist, pitched herself as a change agent ready to take a fresh millennial perspective on climate, cost of living and healthcare to shakeup the Senate status-quo. At age 38, Gleich accused Curtis of failing to approach these issues with the urgency of someone younger, who knows they will be saddled with the longterm consequences.
“It’s our generation that’s going to have to deal with the issues that Congress is failing to address right now,” Gleich said. “We cannot keep sending the same kind of politicians and expecting a different result.”
Bowen, a veteran and former American Fork city councilman, explained that as a lifelong Republican he wants to offer Utahns an uncompromising stand on constitutional limits to government. Bowen took floor time during nearly every one of his responses to highlight Curtis’ brief affiliation with the Democratic party more than 20 years ago, as well as Curtis’ qualified support for Trump.
“I ran as an Independent American to ensure that you have a pro-Trump conservative option on your ballot,” Bowen said. “I‘m concerned that my GOP opponent, who is a former Democrat, would be a Romney 2.0.”
Curtis rebutted this by saying his track record on the former president is clear. When Trump acted in line with “Utah values,” Curtis was “all in.” When Trump acted in contradiction to those values, on the budget or other issues, “I wasn’t afraid to speak up,” Curtis said, confirming that he will vote for Trump in November.
While initially saying it wasn’t “worth the time of those watching” to respond to Bowen’s criticism of his past party affiliation, Curtis eventually relented and explained that more than 20 years ago he had registered as a Democrat — though he still considered himself a Reagan Republican — to provide greater choice to Utah voters.
Curtis’ brief stint as a Democrat included time as chair of the Utah County Democratic Party, where he changed the party’s platform to be pro-life, pro-2nd amendment and pro-school vouchers, he told the Deseret News in a previous interview. While he said his attempt to hold the state’s Republican super majority accountable “didn’t work,” Curtis told viewers on Thursday that he didn’t regret it.
“I’m very proud of everything that I’ve done in the past. And I’ve worked hard, consistently throughout my life to promote what I would call Utah values,” Curtis said.
Curtis said the greatest longterm threat to U.S. interests is China. Curtis, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, called America’s relationship with China “broken.” But that doesn’t mean the country can, or should, cut ties. “Decoupling” the two nations’ economies is not an option, Curtis said. “We need to fix the relationship.”
Curtis is also worried about the wars between Israel and Iran-backed terrorist groups and between Ukraine and Russia. His stance on involvement in these conflicts comes down to distinguishing “who are our friends and who are our enemies.” Iran and Putin are “not our friend,” Curtis said.
Gleich described “one of the most defining moments” in her life as when she visited an aircraft carrier under NATO control with a group of online influencers. The trip opened her eyes to the importance of supporting our allies around the world in an effort to oppose “the rise of dictators internationally,” she said.
While Gleich criticized GOP members for questioning the effectiveness of the NATO defense alliance, saying it represents “a huge impediment to the defense of democracy worldwide,” Bowen, who served in the U.S. Air Force from from 1988 to 1994, said Trump’s tough approach to NATO negotiations actually strengthened the organization by getting member countries to increase their defense spending.
Bowen echoed a common Republican talking point, arguing that the surge in immigration to the United States is the product of failing to enforce the law as written, and questioned the need for new legislation. He clarified that he supported legal immigration but said he opposed any compromise on border policy that created a path for undocumented migrants to become citizens because that constitutes “amnesty.”
“It just encourages people to break the law again in the future, it’s a huge problem,” Bowen said. “If you do amnesty as a compromise, you just continue to have this problem be worse more and more down the road.”
Solving the country’s immigration problems is not as simple as having the right president in office to enforce border security, Curtis said. Attacking bipartisan bills that pair enhanced border enforcement with expanded legal pathways is “very easy” but doesn’t move the country closer to a solution, according to Curtis. The congressman said anyone who “puts their neck out” and proposes a plan “has their head whacked off by the political extremes.”
Gleich followed the lead of her party’s presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, in showing willingness increase border security after four years of relaxed asylum and detainment policies. Gleich said she would support the bipartisan border measure that failed earlier this year which would have funded more Border Patrol agents and surveillance technology. But Gleich also said Utahns need to talk about undocumented immigrants, who she called “hard working, tax paying citizens,” with more empathy.
On abortion, Gleich said she was in complete opposition to Utah’s ban on all elective abortions, with exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother, that is still pending a court decision. When asked after the debate whether she supported any restrictions on abortion, even during the third trimester, Gleich said the decision should be left up to parents and their doctor.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court had “dire unintended consequences” that include higher maternal mortality rates in some places and a lack of OB/GYN physicians in states with extensive restrictions on abortion, she said.
“Utah deserves a U.S. senator that trusts families to make the best decisions for themselves, free from government intervention,” Gleich said.
Curtis called himself “absolutely pro-life” and expressed support for Utah’s ban on elective abortions. Lawmakers should be able to take into account the life of the mother and the baby in conversations about abortion and post-natal care, Curtis said. This kind of common ground can best be found at the state level.
Bowen characterized Gleich’s arguments about the consequences of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision as fear-mongering and said the question of abortion is black and white because “abortion ends a human life.” States with abortion restrictions still offer adequate healthcare options for women who have miscarriages or other complications with their pregancies, Bowen said.
Curtis, Gleich and Bowen will face off in the General Election on Nov. 5. Mail-in ballots will be sent to voters beginning next week. The three candidates qualified for the debate by polling within the margin of error of a 10% threshold.
During his primary campaign for Senate, Curtis came in a distant second place at the GOP convention among state delegates, receiving 30% to Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs’ 70%. But Curtis went on to claim a commanding victory in the four-way primary election, securing nearly 50% of the vote.
A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted in August found Curtis with a 34-percentage-point lead over Gleich. In a head-to-head contest, 56% of registered Utah voters said they would support Curtis, 22% said they would cast their ballot for Gleich, and another 22% said they don’t know who they would vote for, the poll found.