Utah Debate Commission

Elevating the discussion of the most important issues
confronting Utah through a series of candidate debates.

Welcome to the Utah Debate Commission

The Utah Debate Commission is a consortium of higher educational institutions, media organizations, and business and civic leaders dedicated to creating a non-partisan and independent system of debates among qualified candidates for statewide and federal offices in Utah during each election cycle. The purposes of the Utah Debate Commission are to educate voters about viable candidates and their issue positions, promote a civil exchange of ideas among the leading candidates, and elevate the discussion of the most important issues confronting the State of Utah.

Watch Videos

Utah Debate Commission 2022

Utah Debate Commission General Debates 2022

DATE	RACE	CANDIDATES	MODERATORS	TIME	LOCATION

10/06/2022	U.S. House 3rd District Utah	John Curtis (Republican) and Glenn Wright (Democrat)	Natalie Gochnour	6 p.m.	Brigham Young University
10/10/2022	U.S. House 1st District Utah	Rick Jones (Democrat) and Blake Moore (Republican)	Kerry Bringhurst	6 p.m.	Weber State University
10/12/2022	U.S. House 4th District Utah	Darlene McDonald (Democrat), Burgess Owens (Republican), and January Walker (United Utah)	Lauren Gustus	6 p.m.	University of Utah
10/14/2022	U.S. House 2nd District Utah	Cassie Easley (Constitution), Nick Mitchell (Democrat), and Chris Stewart (Republican)	Boyd Matheson	6 p.m.	Southern Utah University
10/17/2022	Senate	Mike Lee (Republican) and Evan McMullin (Unaffiliated)	Doug Wright	6 p.m.	Utah Valley University

U.S. House 3rd District Utah

DATE

10/06/2022

CANDIDATES

MODERATOR

Natalie Gochnour, Director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute

VENUE

Brigham Young University

U.S. House 1st District Utah

DATE

10/10/2022

CANDIDATE

Blake Moore (Republican) and Rick Jones (Democrat)

MODERATOR

Kerry Bringhurst, Station Manager for Utah Public Radio

VENUE

Weber State University

U.S. House 4th District Utah

DATE

10/12/2022

CANDIDATES

MODERATOR

Lauren Gustus, Executive Editor of the Salt Lake Tribune

VENUE

University of Utah

U.S. House 2nd District Utah

DATE

10/14/2022

CANDIDATES

Cassie Easley (Constitution) and Nick Mitchell (Democrat)

MODERATOR

Lauren Gustus, Executive Editor of the Salt Lake Tribune

VENUE

Southern Utah University

Senate Debate

DATE

10/17/2022

CANDIDATES

MODERATOR

Doug Wright, Former Radio Host at KSL News Radio

VENUE

Utah Valley University

More Debate Info

UTAH DEBATE ESSAY CONTEST

In anticipation of the vice presidential debate, the Utah Debate Commission worked with the Utah State Board of Education and Lucid Software to create a curriculum for all K-12 students and held a statewide essay contest. Students from all levels – from kindergarten to college – were invited to submit 300-word essays answering the question: “If you could ask the vice presidential candidates one question, what would you ask and why?”
We are pleased to announce the winning essays from all four age categories:

View Winning Essays