CEDAR CITY, Utah — The top four candidates for Utah Attorney General engaged in a vigorous debate over who is most qualified to lead an office that has been ensnared in controversy and scandal for years.
Republican Derek Brown, Democrat Rudy Bautista, the United Utah Party's Michelle Quist and Libertarian Andrew McCullough challenged each other and presented their vision for the office. It's an open seat after current Republican Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, caught up in controversy over his ties to Operation Underground Railroad founder Tim Ballard, opted not to seek re-election.
The controversies of Reyes and his predecessors loomed over the debate.
"We need an attorney general who takes ethics with the utmost seriousness and avoids even the appearance of a conflict of interest," said Quist, who touted her political independence throughout the debate.
"We must be transparent so we have the faith of the public," said Brown, who is currently polling as the frontrunner in the race.
McCullough proclaimed that as a Libertarian, he was "not going to be a member of the Republican Attorney General’s Association and get together and do all this political stuff."
Bautista declared he was an "independent running on the Democratic party ticket" who had renounced any campaign contributions.
Asked point blank if each of them would make their calendars public (something Reyes has gone to court to challenge news organizations on), each candidate said they would.
On Utah's lawsuit seeking control over millions of acres of federal lands, each candidate took a slightly different approach.
"Negotiations are important. Sometimes lawsuits also work," Quist said.
"We’re not being denied access to it, it’s rhetoric to get the state to take over the land so they can sell them for corporate greed," said Bautista.
Countered Brown, who supported the litigation: "We are actually being denied access. That’s the reason this is so important."
"When the state comes in and says we want the land under our control, it’s a money grab," said McCullough.
On social media litigation, only Brown suggested he was likely to continue the state's litigation. Quist criticized him for a conflict of interest, pointing out that Brown has represented Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, which is currently being sued by the state. Speaking to reporters afterward, Brown said if elected, he would ensure there was a firewall.
"There’s just a protocol for how you deal with this," he said. "I would work, to the extent that it needs to be handled by others, that’s certainly something that can be the case."
Watch the debate here:
