For the first time in 22 years, Jim Hansen's name won't be on the ballot in Utah's 1st Congressional District. In his stead, on the Republican side, is Rob Bishop, a former Utah legislator who describes himself as a "mainstream conservative."
Opposing Bishop in the state's only open race for U.S. Congress is Dave Thomas, a wealthy advertising executive who sees himself as a moderate Democrat in the middle of the political road.
The Green candidate is Craig Axford, who believes that average Americans are losing faith in an electoral process beholden to special interests.
There is no doubt that a vote for Bishop is a vote for the single-party power structure in Utah.
Bishop is a 16-year veteran of the Utah House, a former House speaker and a two-term GOP state chairman. He also was a paid lobbyist for the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association and believes the Second Amendment provides an absolute guarantee of gun rights.
Bishop says his political philosophy is similar to Hansen's; he favors just 1.9 million acres of wilderness in Utah and says he will fight for multiple uses of federal land. In addition, he believes the federal government should get out of public education (he teaches history and political science at Box Elder High School in Brigham City) and, as a believer in supply-side economics, favors deeper and permanent federal tax cuts. He says the GOP best represents Utah and its values.
Any weighing of Bishop's qualifications for Congress should include mention that he often sees humor where others don't, and has a well-known propensity for sarcasm. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine Bishop, the facetious idealogue, as a statesman inclined or able to engage in bipartisan lawmaking in the closely divided U.S. House of Representatives.
The increasing right-wing dominance of Utah's political landscape over the past several years is the reason Thomas gives for getting into the 1st District race. He says that as a believer in free markets and competition, he sees Utah badly in need of a healthy two-party system.
For too long, he says, moderate Utah Democrats have allowed right-wing Republicans to paint them as minions of the more liberal national party. Instead, Thomas says, Democrats must act decisively to define themselves.
For example, in his appearance before The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, Thomas stressed his belief in the constitutional separation of church and state and even brought up his Mormon beliefs, saying LDS theology, in his view, more closely mirrors Democratic principles.
Thomas has been a Democrat all his life and served in 1971 as the first congressional intern for Rep. Gunn McKay, the five-term Democrat Hansen unseated. Like Bishop, Thomas was raised in the district he wants to represent, would fight to enhance Hill Air Force Base's mission and believes in multiple uses for public lands.
Thomas says he is a champion of the "little guy" who, while a fiscal conservative, would not extend or accelerate the Bush administration's tax cuts. He supports President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" public schools initiative, saying Utah doesn't have the tax base at present to do without federal education dollars. He believes the state must pour more money into early childhood language and reading training.
One way to raise more money for Utah would be to make the federal government pay more for the privilege of owning 69 percent of the state, Thomas says. He wants to join with other western states to gain an increase in the the federal payment-in-lieu-of-taxes rate from $1.73 per acre to $10 per acre.
Axford, the Green candidate, says declining participation among the citizenry in all levels of government reflects a decline in faith in the electoral process. He believes the antidote is public campaign financing that would bring the average American back into a system originally intended to represent them, not special interests.
Axford also favors health-care reform through adoption of a single-payer system. He would fight for tougher fuel-efficiency standards and work to protect the remaining pristine federal lands in Utah, including National Forest roadless areas and watersheds.
The candidates for Congress in the 1st District offer clear choices and we believe there is much to choose between.
Bishop, who represents Utah conservatives on virtually every major issue, inspires little confidence that he would ably represent the moderate voter of either party. He is a stranger to the middle, but if a party-line idealogue is who 1st District voters want, Bishop is their man.
However, The Tribune believes the 1st District can do better with a centrist candidate who looks at issues afresh. Dave Thomas is a Democrat, to be sure, but says he wouldn't be afraid to cross the aisle on some issues.
Thomas is of that breed of Utah Democrat -- Gunn McKay and Bill Orton were others -- that understands the state's independent, congenial and humane impulses, and is pragmatic enough to see where they can be applied to the common good.
