Republican Rep. Blake Moore and Democratic candidate Rick Jones came to Weber State University on Oct. 10 to debate. This was part of their campaigns for the District 1 House of Representatives seat for the state of Utah.

The event took place inside the Val A. Browning Center at 6 p.m. and was put on by the Utah Debate Commission. This debate was free to the public and open to both WSU students and anyone else wanting to watch the debate.

The candidates answered questions dealing with inflation, healthcare, infrastructure and many other high-interest topics that will likely affect their term if elected. Questions were asked by the Utah Debate Commission, news outlets and WSU students.

Inflation and economy were big topics of the night, with most of the questions asking about the candidates’ plans to lower inflation rates if elected.

“In 2017, there was a Republican approach to make taxes globally competitive and grow the economy,” Moore said. “And in 2021, there has been President Biden’s approach, and there has been an enormous amount of federal spending. And one has led to inflation, and one has led to better economic growth. I want to be somebody who can reverse this trend, and I want the opportunity to do that.”

Jones said the media has promoted a myth, and the main idea is that inflation is caused by national debt.

“I’m old enough to remember when I repeatedly heard that 40 years ago in the Carter administration, and actually, Reagan came in and pretty much quadrupled the debt deficits,” Jones said. “And then, every subsequent president, with the exception of Bill Clinton, had astronomical deficits, and so we’ve basically had astronomical deficits for about 40 years, and there has been very little inflation.”

The debate questioned both candidates on their beliefs, leading to disagreements and agreements between the two candidates. The topic of abortion was something that both candidates agreed was necessary in some cases but disagreed upon whether or not abortion was healthcare.

Healthcare, in general, was also a big topic of the night. When asked about how to help students find affordable healthcare, the two candidates had differing opinions.

“When you go to the store, when you choose car insurance, when you do any type of consumer activity, you get to see ‘oh, this is $20, this is $28. I’m gonna choose this,’” Moore said. “Have you ever done that with your x-rays? No you haven’t, because we don’t encourage transparency and competition enough in our healthcare.”

Jones followed up Moore’s statement by saying he agrees with the lack of transparency in healthcare and the Biden Administration has done well by reducing pharmaceutical costs.

“Well, I completely agree with that, and I cannot applaud the Biden Administration strong enough for reducing drug prices, and I think it should be that way for everyone,” Jones said. “A key reason we are so completely out of hand is we have a lot of pharmaceutical executives that are making in the vicinity of $25 million … If you go to Europe, there’s no pharmaceutical executives making $25 million, and I think we should take a good look at that.”

This debate was in preparation for the 2022 midterm election, which will take place on Nov. 8. Utah’s First Congressional District encompasses Northern Utah and includes areas from Kaysville to Park City.