This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, an Air Force pilot for 14 years, flew into a spirited dogfight Tuesday during a debate with his Democratic challenger, Charlene Albarran.
They fired away amid political barrel rolls by accusing each other of being less than honest. Stewart charged that Albarran does not live in the 2nd District. She accused him of being out of touch with its residents and doing nothing in Congress. And each bitterly criticized the other over presidential endorsements.
Stewart who has more than a 30-point lead in recent polls came out swinging anyway during their hourlong debate sponsored by the Utah Debate Commission at the KUED studios of the University of Utah.
He charged that Albarran doesn't live in the district, but instead resides in Park City in the 1st District. "You're mistaken," she said, adding that she has moved to Salt Lake City.
He later said she owns a multimillion dollar home in Park City. "The day you filed to run in the 2nd District, you come and rent an apartment in Salt Lake and you tell people you are from the district," he said. "It matters because, do you know us? Are you our neighbor? Do you understand our problems?"
He added, "I just want you to be honest with the people."
She said did not rent the apartment the same day she filed, but at a later date. "It was the same week," Stewart said after the debate. Albarran said she stays in Park City "about two days a month" and lives the rest of the time in Salt Lake City.
She knows the 2nd District and Salt Lake City well, she said, and started a airline rental business and a philanthropy for the homeless there.
She added that the argument is moot because the Constitution does not require a House member to live in the district. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and former Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, at times lived outside their districts.
But she also asserted that the 2nd District covers part of Park City and some of her neighbors there. District boundary maps show that it does not. She said after the debate that she was mistaken, but that the district includes a slice of somewhat nearby unincorporated Summit County.
Meanwhile, Albarran charged that Stewart is the one who is out of touch. When he was asked what the most important issue in the district is, he said national defense is and he talked about how he has the background to help address that topic.
"The congressman always likes to fall back on national security," Albarran said. "However, I understood the question to be what is uniquely important to the people of the 2nd District," and she doubts few would say national defense.
Instead, she said, air quality and pollution in Salt Lake Valley are much bigger hand-in-hand issues. She asserted that Stewart harms efforts to clean the air by sponsoring legislation that she said would prevent scientists from testifying to Congress about global warming.
Stewart held up a copy of the bill he said she was referencing, and he challenged her to show any part of it that makes such a restriction. "It simply isn't there," he said, adding that it merely prohibits scientists from being involved in peer review of their own work.
At one point, Stewart said Congress can do little to improve race relations because it is something that requires a change of heart of individuals.
Albarran said his assertion shows that he hasn't been listening to minorities in the district, and that she has.
"I am listening to them. That is what Congress can do," she said, adding that a feeling of true representation would ease tensions.
Stewart also charged that Albarran is out of touch because she says a national monument should be created in the Bears Ears area. She maintains that this issue is not only a local one, but a national and global one. Most district residents, he said, would disagree.
Albarran alleged that Stewart does nothing in Congress. "He's actually missed 66 votes," she said, "and hasn't passed a single bill."
Stewart said he's cast about 3,000 votes, and the few he missed were to be with his wife after surgery or to be with his children as they left and returned from Mormon missions.
He said more ways exist to enact legislation besides passing stand-alone bills, and that he has passed key measures by adding amendments to other legislative and appropriations packages.
Each took shots at the other over presidential endorsements.
"The congressman had actually called [Republican nominee] Donald Trump our modern-day Mussolini, then three weeks later endorsed him," she said. "We wonder, is he standing up for the people of Utah … or does he have more allegiance to the Republican Party?"
Meanwhile, Stewart said of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton: "I know she's a liar. I know she's corrupt." He said supporting Trump would at least lead to conservative nominees on the Supreme Court.