SALT LAKE CITY — The three candidates for Utah's 4th Congressional District are scheduled to debate Wednesday evening, but the current congressman in office has still not confirmed that he will attend.
With the debate scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on the University of Utah campus, incumbent Rep. Burgess Owens (R) has not confirmed whether he will participate, according to the Utah Debate Commission.
"The UDC is still planning on full attendance at the 4th Congressional District debate, and is looking forward to meaningful dialogue with the candidates that do participate," executive director Erik Nielsen wrote in an email.
The two other candidates vying to represent Utah's District 4 are Darelene McDonald with the Democratic Party and January Walker with the United Utah Party.
Both challengers criticized Owens for not committing to the debate.
"We are dismayed that the worst member of our federal delegation in terms of constituent response is possibly continuing his pattern of willfully sitting on the bench to avoid any form of accountability. His disdain for his constituents indicated by his lack of returning calls or emails from citizens and businesses in our 4th Congressional District is embarrassing and insulting to the people of Utah," McDonald's campaign wrote in a statement Tuesday. "We are encouraging Representative Owens to rethink this cowardly behavior and do the honorable thing by being held accountable to those constituents he purports to represent as is outlined in his duties in the Constitution of the United States."
McDonald's campaign also pointed out that Owens did not participate in a debate in the Republican primary election with then-candidate Jake Hunsaker.
Walker tweeted: "real men know how to debate more than they know how to use a gun. Refusing to go before constituents is an absolute manifestation of your corruption & incompetency for the job. You’ll regret not joining us on stage when I’m done."
She later added: "After some consideration perhaps @BurgessOwens may actually be a victimized elder. He’s a 70 year old man with self proclaimed CTE from his time in the NFL. He hasn’t talked to any voters on a live platform outside of his highly controlled environments the entire year."
FOX 13 News has reached out directly to Owens' campaign but has not heard back as of Tuesday afternoon.
District 4 includes portions of Salt Lake County, Utah County, Juab County and Sanpete County, as seen in the map below.
Debates have been held over the past week for candidates in Utah's Congressional District 1 (Rep. Blake Moore vs. Rick Jones) and Congressional District 3 (Rep. John Curtis vs. Glenn Wright).
The candidates for Utah's Congressional District 2 will debate Friday at 6 p.m., and Republican Sen. Mike Lee will debate challenger Evan McMullin (Independent) next Monday (Oct. 17).
