{"id":958,"date":"2026-06-02T04:13:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=958"},"modified":"2026-06-02T04:13:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:13:01","slug":"utah-2nd-district-candidates-blake-moore-and-karianne-lisonbee-clash-in-primary-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=958","title":{"rendered":"Utah 2nd District candidates Blake Moore and Karianne Lisonbee clash in primary debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>State Rep. Lisonbee opposed the Box Elder data center, while U.S. Rep. Blake Moore supported it if water resources are protected and stakeholders remain engaged.<\/li>\n<li>The pair discussed redistricting in the state and Moore&#8217;s role during Monday&#8217;s GOP primary. Moore defended his involvement as an effort to reduce partisan gerrymandering.<\/li>\n<li>Lisonbee called for cutting federal programs and government waste, while Moore discussed his budget reform proposals and efforts to combat fraud and overspending.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As Utah\u2019s primary elections approach, U.S. Rep. Blake Moore and state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee faced each other for a debate in Salt Lake City on Monday evening. Both are running for the state\u2019s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the northwestern section of the state. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=956\">YouTubers were supposed to replace theaters. Now, they are filling them<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Moore is the fifth-highest ranking House Republican and currently serves on several committees, including the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which is the primary force behind federal tax policy. <\/p>\n<p>At several points during the debate, televised on PBS, Lisonbee took shots at Moore for his involvement in the state\u2019s redistricting saga. Between 2017 and 2018, Moore served as a Republican chair for Better Boundaries, which later led to the creation of one left-leaning district. <\/p>\n<h3>Do you support the Box Elder County data center?<\/h3>\n<p>Lisonbee said she was \u201cnot supportive at this point\u201d of the recently approved data center in Box Elder County. There are \u201ctoo many unanswered questions,\u201d she said, referencing conflicting environmental reports about what the data center would do to the area.<\/p>\n<p>Moore offered support for the project but added, \u201cwater is paramount. We need to make sure we\u2019re protecting that resource.\u201d He said there may be better options of building data centers in a \u201cmore bit-sized approach,\u201d but his main priority is to ensure that \u201ckey stakeholders are talking to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams asked the project developer Kevin O\u2019Leary to scale down the land required from 40,000 acres to 10,000 acres. <\/p>\n<p>When asked if he believes U.S.-based data centers are necessary for national security, Moore said, \u201cWe cannot lose this race to China, because we will deal with it (artificial intelligence) responsibly.\u201c <\/p>\n<p>Lisonbee didn\u2019t say whether building data centers was necessary for national security. <\/p>\n<p>They both addressed the public\u2019s hesitancy to embrace the project. Polling by the Deseret News and the Hinkley Institute of Politics showed more than half of Utahns are opposed to the data center. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously there was a dearth of information going out to the public,\u201d Moore said. \u201cI\u2019m all about having a positive outlook on things, so this is a good opportunity to say, hey, there are problems within this process, and the public has had a chance to weigh in and weigh in heavily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked if she would support state and federal subsidies for data centers, Lisonbee said, \u201cI firmly believe government should not be in the position of choosing winners and losers in the market. We should get out of the way and let the market work.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>What would you do to protect the Great Salt Lake?<\/h3>\n<p>The federal Interior Department recently proposed that $1 billion of its  budget for 2027 go toward increasing the Great Salt Lake\u2019s water levels. <\/p>\n<p>When asked what she would do to make sure that money ended up being used correctly, Lisonbee said, \u201cI have some questions around where does the billion dollars come from? Is that more deficit spending that is going to drive up prices for everyday Utahns for the things that they need?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lisonbee added, \u201cIt\u2019s going to take collaboration at the local, state and federal level to really solve our water issues here in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the same question, Moore said the money could go toward reducing the amount of phragmites, an invasive grass, that grows along the lake\u2019s bank. He also referenced legislation he\u2019d passed about saline lakes during his first term in office in 2021. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=954\">Do AI models omit religion? Here\u2019s what new BYU-led research says<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Does Moore stand by Prop 4 redistricting?<\/h3>\n<p>Moore said he did not agree with Utah Supreme Court Judge Dianna Gibson\u2019s handling of the Proposition 4 redistricting case. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf she ultimately deemed the legislation to be a statutory (problem), she should have given that back to the state legislature over and over again,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Lisonbee responded, \u201cI truly can\u2019t tell whether he\u2019s naive or gaslighting the public. Truly, to suggest that because Blake gifted a seat to the Democrats in Utah, that Gavin Newsom will now magically decide to give a seat to the Republicans in California \u2014 it\u2019s just not good policy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>When given time to reply, Moore said, \u201cWhen I was involved with this, I had no idea how anything was going to play out. But what\u2019s important to remember is back in 2018, most of the states in the U.S. actually were moving to some type of redistricting reform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During a recent editorial board meeting with the Deseret News, Moore said he still views his initial efforts with Better Boundaries as the right thing. \u201cIt\u2019s tough to do principled things in this job, but they\u2019re still worth doing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>He described the gerrymandering battles across the U.S. as a \u201crace to the bottom\u201d and added, \u201cI want to be a part of it not existing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>National debt and government shutdowns<\/h3>\n<p>When asked what they would do to address the country\u2019s $38 trillion debt, Moore referenced his Comprehensive Congressional Budget Act, which would make Congress vote on the entire budget every year, and the Fiscal Commission Act. <\/p>\n<p>Lisonbee said she would cut out-of-control federal programs. Then she referenced fraud in Minnesota and California and said, \u201cThis is all under the leadership of our current congressman. &#8230; Congress controls the purse strings, but they don\u2019t have a very firm grasp, and they need to start pulling.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Moore responded, \u201cI clearly don\u2019t have any responsibility for what took place in Minneapolis,\u201d then referenced his work on the Health Care Task Force, aimed at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. <\/p>\n<p>Both Lisonbee and Moore promised to not take pay during government shutdowns. <\/p>\n<h3>Do Lisonbee and Moore support the war in Iran?<\/h3>\n<p>Lisonbee appeared to support the U.S.-Israeli-led strikes on Iran and the continued American presence in the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m incredibly grateful for our armed forces, and I hate sending them to war,\u201c she said. \u201dBut we must also put America first. I appreciate a president who is decisive, strategic and goes into conflict with a clear plan and strategy by destabilizing Iran\u2019s power.\u201c <\/p>\n<p>She said she believes the operation has strengthened the U.S. energy market to China\u2019s detriment, adding, \u201cWe also need to be more strategic and surgical in how we advance American interests abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moore said, \u201cI believe we\u2019re in a strong position for President Trump to make a final deal. I don\u2019t know if the deal is going to solve all the problems, but we can continue to monitor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=952\">What Puka Nacua said about off-the-field issues following his time in rehab<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Utah\u2019s primary election is June 23.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blake Moore and Karianne Lisonbee sparred over the Box Elder data center, Utah&#8217;s redistricting battle and how to address the federal debt during Monday&#8217;s debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Utah 2nd District candidates Blake Moore and Karianne Lisonbee clash in primary debate - 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