Overview
- The candidates met Tuesday at Utah State University for a policy-focused debate that put data-center siting, the Great Salt Lake and inflation-driven affordability at the top of the district agenda.
- Both called for greater transparency and stronger local input on hyperscale data centers like the proposed Stratos campus, but they offered different fixes for who should decide where projects go.
- Peter Crosby urged using military-adjacent land and more immediate water transfers to save the Great Salt Lake, while Rep. Blake Moore called for reform of the Military Installation Development Authority and said the lake needs water more than one-time cash infusions.
- The two split on tariffs and affordability, with Moore citing successful interventions for a major employer, Procter & Gamble, and Crosby arguing small businesses and farmers have been left behind by current trade and energy policies.
- A Utah Debate Commission poll released to qualify the debate shows a tight contest with Moore ahead by about five points, underscoring that a historically Republican district is now competitive and elevating local resource and development decisions as key campaign battlegrounds.