Senator Orrin Hatch and Dan Liljenquist faced off Friday in the only debate scheduled before the primary election later this month.
Hatch and Liljenquist debated for an hour on KSL Newsradio’s Doug Wright Show. Hatch claims his 36 years in the Senate position him to continue being a powerful voice for Utah. But Liljenquist says Hatch has already had more than three decades to fix problems and has failed. During the debate he attacked Hatch’s voting record.
"You voted over and over again to raise the debt ceiling. That is a tax increase that you’ve deferred on a whole generation of Americans," said Liljenquist.
"Well let me get this straight. Apparently, I’m responsible for everything that’s wrong in the federal government. That’s total BS and everyone knows it," responded Hatch.
Despite agreeing to only one debate since state GOP delegates decided on a primary election, Hatch says he’s appeared with Liljenquist enough times to give voters what they need to make a choice.
"I mean we’ve appeared 19 times in joint appearances across the state. We had two prior debates where he also had a helper. The two guys were against me," said Hatch.
On Friday Liljenquist received the endorsement of former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, and Hatch was endorsed by the American Conservative Union. The primary is Tuesday, June 26th.