It was generally a cordial encounter between Republican Blake Moore, the incumbent seeking his second term in the Northern Utah seat, and Rick Jones, his Democratic challenger. The debate, hosted by the Utah Debate Commission and moderated by Kerry Binghurst of Utah Public Radio, was held at the Val A. Browning Center on the Weber State University campus in Ogden.

Moore, from Salt Lake City, called himself an “effective conservative.” He said his priorities in serving in the post have been supporting Hill Air Force Base, trying to chip away at the U.S. national debt and “debt culture” and being “an optimistic, positive, conservative voice.”

Jones, a music teacher who previously taught economics at Weber State, said conserving voter rights — under threat, he warns, in other states — is a priority. He was referencing apparent false claims of voter fraud by Donald Trump supporters that he won the 2020 presidential vote.

Acknowledging the tough time Democrats have historically had in 1st District races, he said after the debate that he also wanted to be on the ballot to make sure voters had a choice. Republicans have won the 1st District race by at least 35 percentage points since at least 2010 and a Democrat hasn’t won in the district since 1978.

Leah Hogsten, The Salt Lake Tribune via Pool

Money matters like debt and inflation figured big in the debate and Moore took aim at the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

“We’ve seen an enormous amount of government spending just over the last 18 months,” he said, citing federal stimulus funding stemming from the American Rescue Plan, passed under Biden. The spending has led “to 40-year-high rates of inflation, so everyone’s frustrated with this. It’s a tax on every single American, I don’t care what you make.”

Jones discounted the “myth” that inflation is caused by debt, noting heavy debt under the administration of former President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, and subsequent administrations. “Public debt or government debt turns out to be a lot less dangerous than private debt,” he said.

Whatever the cause of inflation, though — and Jones pointed to the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure to defend U.S. anti-trust laws — he indicated that a possible remedy could be through stricter enforcement of tax collection laws.

High fuel costs boost costs of other products, and Moore called for increasing the amount of fuel produced in the United States to temper those costs, thereby easing inflationary pressures.

“It’s going to be increasingly more difficult to get out of this inflationary period we have if we don’t get our energy costs under control,” he said.

On abortion, Moore described himself as pro-life, though he said he thinks the procedure should be allowed in cases of rape and incest. He said he wants women to have the resources they need “when they’re in a difficult situation” and also touted initiatives to promote adoption.

Jones voiced opposition to criminalizing abortion in the first trimester of a pregnancy.

It’s “foolish to try to criminalize abortion when about two-thirds of the country do want at least what was available with Roe v. Wade, which permitted women to make the call in the first trimester,” he said.

Both candidates sounded support for Ukraine in its fight against invading forces from Russia.

“The reality is, (Ukrainians) are winning, they’re beating (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and he’s cornered,” Moore said. “We need to make sure that we stay on the plan. We are going to defend (North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries) and we will put boots on the ground if NATO is in any way attacked.”

Jones echoed support for Ukraine. “I completely support the Biden administration’s efforts to bolster Ukraine,” he said. The United States can’t allow Putin “to get away with this kind of imperialism.”

In his closing comments, Jones took a jab at Moore’s residency outside the boundaries of the 1st District. U.S. House members must live in the state they represent, though not the specific district.

“I am the one candidate who actually lives in the district. I just want to let my opponent know it’s quite distressing to a number of constituents. He said he would move into the district and has not,” Jones said.

After the debate, Moore said he had never vowed to definitively move into the district. He said he would weigh the matter after redrawing of district boundaries, completed late last year.

Beyond that, he emphasized his Ogden roots. He grew up in Ogden, which is inside the district, though he now lives outside the district’s confines, though near it. “You can’t take away the fact that I’m from Ogden,” he said.

With four kids, including an infant born late last year, however, Moore said he’s mulling a move from his current Salt Lake City home into larger digs.

According to a poll conducted by the Utah Debate Commission that was released on Sept. 19, Moore had 61.7% backing compared to 32.2% support for Jones, a 29.5 percentage point split. The 1st District covers Weber, Morgan, Rich, Cache and Box Elder counties and parts of Davis, Summit and Salt Lake counties.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been changed to correct the makeup of Moore’s family.