If there was one commonality between the candidates in Utah’s 4th Congressional District during their Oct. 24 debate, it was that each made Utah families the centerpiece of their campaigns. However, what that looked like for each of them was a little different.
For Republican incumbent Burgess Owens, Utah is a “unique place” with values, and “it's not that easy to hold onto.”
“We raise our kids learning how to serve, how to get outside their comfort zone, learn how to be entrepreneurial and take risk, and then the key is also being able to pass a legacy down that's very, very unique.”
The entire reason Democrat Katrina Fallick-Wang decided to run was to represent the district’s hard-working families as one of them — a working mom and a mom of four.
“I know first-hand the difficulty between balancing family and business, health care and mortgage, and I want to be the candidate that puts Utah families first.”
During the hour-long and largely civil debate, which was organized by the Utah Debate Commission and held at the PBS Utah studios at The University of Utah, the candidates laid out their positions on social media, abortion and LGBTQ+ rights — which struck a chord with Fallick-Wang.
LGBTQ+ Rights
Utah lawmakers have passed a series of laws restricting transgender participation in sports, minor’s access to gender-affirming care and bathroom access in recent years.
Nationally, multiple conservative-led states have passed similar laws. And transgender rights have become an attack the Trump campaign has leveled against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Fallick-Wang, who is a member of the LGBTQ community and has a transgender son, said this was a central reason why she entered the race. That “even though we have some legislators in the state who are behaving very hatefully,” she wanted to run to show “that most Utahns love them and support them.”
“Utah is a place full of people who care about their children deeply, who care about their neighbors, who love unconditionally, and I want to show that to all of the children of Utah.”
While he believes the country has become accepting of same-sex relationships, Owens said transgender issues are “something quite different.”
“It's when they move over to this next step of trans, when all of a sudden you can't define what a man is what a woman is, when you have men that are competing against women, when you have talking to our kids, at your little 5 or 6-year-old about transitioning, when you can't go to school without having this indoctrination of sex which should not belong in these areas,” he said.
Beyond education, he also framed the debate in terms of women’s sports. To him, it was an issue of common sense.
A visibly emotional Falick-Wang said Owens’ and other Republicans’ stance on the issue “hurts me, and it hurts [my son] so deeply.”
“I understand the conversations at a high level with sports, but with little children, it's hampering their future.”
Owens appreciated Fallick-Wang’s point of view but kept the issue framed on sports and competition between genders. He insisted that “one of the things we can teach our young people is what fairness is also, it’s important.”
Abortion
Owens and Fallick-Wang presented stark differences on the issue of abortion.
On the question of a national ban or restriction, Fallick-Wang said the “federal government does not have any place in my doctor's office, it does not have any place in my bedroom, it does not have any place in my bathroom.”
“I have daughters, I have sisters and like it or not, abortion is life saving health care,” she continued. “We have to keep in mind the safety and health of all of the women of our country.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the question of abortion access to states, Republicans have somewhat moderated themselves on the issue. Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance said the American people “just don’t trust” Republicans on abortion right now during his Oct. 1 debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
To Owens, the Supreme Court overreached in deciding Roe v. Wade in 1973 and the decision should be in state hands. He also co-sponsored a bill in 2023 that would have defined life as starting at the moment of conception.
“We can make sure we're trying to change minds if we can, but that's the only way it works when we the people are part of the solution and not some bureaucrat or some justice in D.C. that mandates everything for all of us,” he said. “Let it go down to the states. Let us have a chance to talk about it. And if you don't like what the state has, guess what? Well, you could always move.”
That comment did not sit well with Fallick-Wang, who countered by noting the number of OBGYNs leaving states with restrictive abortion laws.
“I don't think that the women of Utah and the families of Utah deserve a lower standard of care, that they deserve less choice in their health care providers, just because they happen to live in Utah.”
Owens replied that “women in Utah have different values”
“They love their babies, they think they should support them any way they can,” he said.
“Those who don't want to do that, then obviously Utah might not be the place and they have to make that decision because at the end of the day, we believe in life and we're willing to fight for life and that's important for us here in Utah.”
Social Media
Social media and kids have been a hot topic in the Utah Legislature in recent years.
Owens and Fallick-Wang presented dueling philosophies on the role of the federal government when it comes to social media. Utah is currently embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with companies like TikTok, over what it says are “deceptive practices” that harm the state’s youth.
Owens said he was “all in” on the federal government joining that fight.
“Our children are now under attack by people who do not like our country, do not like our values, and we're seeing a result of that, of an increase in suicides, kids who just have no vision or no way of moving forward.”
When it comes to what federal action could look like, Owens pointed toward grants the government could give to school districts to address social media use.
Fallick-Wang, on the other hand, insisted the federal government should not regulate how people choose to communicate and added any federal action would likely violate the First Amendment.
“I don't know how we went from small government trusting families to know what's best for themselves and to know what's best for their children to this big government oversight where someone up in Washington who does not know me, does not know my children, now has the power to control really how I raise my children,” she said. “That's something that I think we need to stay very far away from.”
Mail-in election ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 4, or they can be dropped off at a ballot drop box until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.