Utah’s mostly civil 3rd District debate turns sour after rebuke during final handshake
Republican state Sen. Mike Kennedy and Democrat Glenn Wright. (Images courtesy of Utah Senate and Glenn Wright campaign)
The debate between the Republican and Democrat vying to be the next representative for Utah's 3rd Congressional District on Thursday was fairly civil with few tense exchanges or rebuttals — that is, up until its final moments.
Republican Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine, told reporters in a scrum after the face off that his Democratic opponent, Glenn Wright, made a comment during their post-debate handshake that was "frankly shocking."
"I believe we should have civility and thoughtfulness, and that last comment that he made was not civil and it was not thoughtful. ... I don't think we need to denigrate or name-call. I don't think we should use foul language as we're working on these important issues."
When reporters pressed Kennedy on what Wright told him, Kennedy declined to elaborate, telling them to get the tape from Brigham Young University, which hosted the debate organized by the Utah Debate Commission.
A live stream of the debate did not catch the remark — but when reporters asked Wright what he told Kennedy over their handshake, Wright laughed and asked, "Did that get on tape?"
"I told him he was a — he had a good line of B.S. Very professional," Wright said. "Because I think a lot of his answers didn't really answer the question. That's why. Probably half of his answers were just, you know, rhetoric."
Pressed on whether the remark was appropriate, Wright said, "Why not?"
"It showed him what I thought of him. I don't think he deserves to be elected to this office. I think he will be a danger to this country and to Utah," Wright said, criticizing Kennedy for supporting former President Donald Trump in his bid against Vice President Kamala Harris to return to the White House.
Wright went on to condemn Trump for having "no morals," trying to "overthrow the government," and "having conversations with the war criminal from Moscow," referring to Russia President Vladimir Putin, among other criticisms. "The man is a serious threat to our Constitution and our national defense. Kennedy supports him, as does the entire Republican delegation."
It was the only prickly moment in an otherwise cordial exchange that focused on policies — including questions on how the candidates would tackle affordable housing, the national debt, omnibus spending bills, small business aid, inflation, social media protections for kids, energy policies, artificial intelligence regulations, water policy, women's health after the Dobbs decision, immigration reform, border security, fentanyl overdoses, and more.
For a full picture, watch the entire debate
Though Wright's post-debate comments targeted Trump, the divisive former president was only mentioned in passing a couple of times during the bulk of the debate. Kennedy — while he does support Trump and was among the Utah state delegates who voted for Trump at the Republican National Convention in July — focused his debate responses on repeatedly parading his background as a family doctor, attorney, business owner and state legislator.
Kennedy has campaigned on promises to bring conservative principles to Congress. Thursday night he repeatedly said the government needs to "stay out of the way," whether it's for housing, business regulations, or AI.
Wright, a Vietnam combat veteran and pilot, repeatedly referred to his time as a board member for Habitat for Humanity and as a Summit County councilman while arguing he has the expertise to help increase housing availability by seeking federal grant money for local affordable housing projects.
In the red state of Utah, Wright faces likely insurmountable odds to beat Kennedy. The victor on Nov. 5 will fill a vacancy left by outgoing Rep. John Curtis, who is running to replace retiring Sen. Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate.
Both Kennedy and Wright, the only two candidates in the race, qualified for Thursday's debate after both won enough support in a poll conducted by Salt Lake City polling firm Lighthouse Research from Aug. 29 to Sept. 19 for the Utah Debate Commission.
Kennedy got 61.4% in that poll, while Wright got just under 33%. The survey of 504 randomly drawn registered Utah voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.36 percentage points, according to the Utah Debate Commission, which also made clear its results shouldn't be "misinterpreted as predictions of the outcomes of any race."
