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Lieutenant Governor Candidates Square Off

Education, the economy and voter turnout were the focus of Utah’s only Lieutenant Governor’s debate. Less than a week away from the election, Republican Lieutenant Governor Greg Bell joined Democratic candidate Vince Rampton this morning at Utah State University in Logan.  

Democrat Vince Rampton says he would be a pro-active Lieutenant governor, tackling Utah’s low voter turnout and one-party rule by reforming lax campaign finance laws, expanding voter outreach and reducing lobbyist control in the legislature. He says these factors have led to helplessness among voters.

“It has become endemic in this system," Rampton says. "The voters of the state of Utah have come to believe that the political process is a function of large well-funded institutions influencing the outcome of elections through a massive advertising campaign.” 

Bell says his priority is to stand alongside Utah Governor Gary Herbert to keep Utah’s economy growing. 

“The reason we’ve grown so much is because of our tax policies," Bell says. "If we start raising our taxes like Illinois and California we’ll lose jobs by the droves.

Rampton says his campaign is not seeking to raise taxes but move existing money, like transportation funding to other areas, especially education.

The debate was produced by Utah Public Radio and is part of the Vote Utah 2012 partnership of public broadcasters. A recording of the entire debate can be found at voteutah.org.

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