Candidates for Utah Attorney General gathered at Southern Utah University Tuesday for a debate hosted by the Utah Debate Commission.
The candidates participating were Rudy Bautista (D), Derek Brown (R), Andrew McCullough (L), and Michelle Quist (UU). They discussed several issues on the minds of Utah voters, including the recent controversy around ballot initiatives and the power balance between legislators and voters.
Brown referred to the direct initiative process as a form of “checks and balances,” much like how the attorney general is separate and apart from the governor. He explained that it allows the people to pass laws, and then the elected officials can amend, alter, repeal and change those laws. Brown said that there have been cases where the people have passed something and the legislature has amended it, and vice versa.
“For over a century, we've had this system of checks and balances in place," he said. "I think it's healthy. I think it's essential. One of the concerns I had is the Supreme Court decision that said we're going to take it back.”
Brown was referring to the Supreme Court’s decision to void Constitutional Amendment D, which would have given the Utah Legislature significant authority to amend or repeal voter-approved initiatives, increasing legislative control over outcomes that had been decided directly by voters.
Quist was quick with a retort.
"Utahns have had the right to use the initiative process to reform government without government infringement for over a century," she said. "That means that the legislature cannot come in and repeal or amend.”
She reinforced that this is what the Supreme Court held firm on, and she then claimed that the legislature had purposefully used deceptive language on the ballot to keep voters from knowing exactly what they were voting on. She ended her answer by stating that it was “ludicrous” for any attorney in the state to support the amendment.
Following her remarks, Bautista said that legislators are accountable to the people and the people only. He reinforced his stance that citizens should have the right to change the law and to enact the laws, and that key issues should be left to the public, not the representatives. He also pointed out how often representatives go against their own constituents.
“The voters should have the final say," Bautista argued, "and that is the law. That is what many people have sacrificed [for] — whether it was to get the right to vote, whether it was for civil rights, whether it was defending this country in wars - too many have sacrificed to let it go.”
McCullough took a different angle, instead discussing the civil forfeiture initiative and marijuana initiative he had been involved in. But he eventually circled back around and voiced his support for the Supreme Court’s decision to void the ballot initiative.
“The Supreme Court says ‘look, you went too far this time.’ This particular initiative was to change the form of the government, and that's more important than the marijuana thing or the civil forfeiture," McCullough asserted. "I think that was a brilliant decision. I read it carefully.”
Thanks for joining us on Election Day. You can find results and reporting here.
