By SCOTT BELL
bell@du2.byu.edu
With elections coming up Nov. 3, KBYU will host a series of debates between Utah's candidates for federal offices beginning this evening.
The debates will be taped and aired tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday beginning at 9 p.m. each night. The actual debates will take place at 5 p.m. each night in the KBYU studios in the HFAC. Tonight's debate will feature the candidates for the U.S. Senate: incumbent Bob Bennett, Republican; Scott Leckman, Democrat; and Gary Van Horn, Independent American.
Tuesday's debate will be between incumbent Jim Hansen, Republican, and Steve Beierlein, Democrat, candidates for the First Congressional District seat. In Wednesday's debate between candidates for the Second Congressional District seat, incumbent Merrill Cook, Republican, will debate Lily Eskelsen, Democrat.
BYU political science professor David Magleby will moderate the debates. Students from Magleby's political science classes have gathered potential debate questions from several sources. According to Joe Stephenson, the student handling the questions for the Senate debate, questions came from political science students at BYU and other universities and from high school students who were mailed election guides prepared by Magleby's students.
'We received a good amount of questions,' Stephenson said.
The debates will be highly structured. Each candidate will be introduced by Magleby. After that, a coin toss will decide who responds first, with the candidates rotating afterward. Each candidate will be allowed one minute to respond to each question.
Magleby will be allowed to ask follow-up questions according to his discretion. Candidates will have 30 seconds to answer follow-up questions. Finally, each candidate will be given 90 second for a closing statement at the conclusion of the hour-long debate.
Candidates will stay after each evening for about 30 minutes to answer other questions those in attendance may have.
In today's debate between Bennett, Leckman and Van Horn, issues likely to be discussed will be possible limits on soft money donations, the possible impeachment of President Clinton, whether the poor and middle class are represented well by wealthy Senators, and hate crime legislation.
Pete Schofield has tabulated questions for Tuesday's debate between Hansen and Beierlein. Issues likely to come up are Clinton's impeachment status once again, social security reform, limits on soft money, gun control, rising crime in Utah and term limits.
Question for Wednesday's debate between Cook and Eskelsen have been gathered by Brad Greenig. Key issues in that debate will be the raising or lowering of taxes, social security reform, abortion, the Clinton situation, environmental concerns and crime.
Utah Lt. Governor Olene S. Walker's office has prepared a voter information pamphlet in which the candidates for federal office were allowed to submit 100-word statements. Most of the following information came from that source.
Leckman, challenging Bennett for one of Utah's three spots in the Senate, is a native Utahn. Professionally, he is a surgeon -- he was the past president of the Salt Lake Surgical Society and is presently the vice-speaker of the Utah Medical Association.
Leckman serves on the board of directors of RESULTS, an anti-hunger citizens' advocacy group. He is also on the advisory board at the Bennion Center, a service organization of the University of Utah. Leckman received the Utah Medical Association's Community Service award in 1994.
Van Horn moved with his family to Utah in 1964. He worked for years as an electrical engineer and managed a technical sales company for nine years.
'Unlike some office holders, I am determined to honor my oath of office and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,' Van Horn said in the pamphlet.
Bennett is completing his first term in the U.S. Senate. He was recently asked to chair the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. He also holds a chair on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where he is able to fight for federal transportation funding for Utah's highway projects.
Bennett has opposed government-run health care and has supported efforts toward health-care reform. He has called for simplification and restructuring of the U.S. tax code.
Beierlein, opposing Hansen in U.S. Congressional District No. 1, moved to Utah as a child when his father was stationed at Hill Air Force Base. He is a financial consultant and Second Vice President at Solomon Smith Barney. He is certified to offer investment counsel to Utah's Public Treasurers.
Recently, he served on the Riverdale City Council. Beierlein is on the Board of Trustee for St. Benedict's Foundation and is the Chairman of its Finance Committee. He also is a member of the Weber School District Foundation.
Hansen is finishing up his ninth term as a Congressman. He began serving in 1980. He serves on three congressional committees and is the chairman of two, including the National Parks Committee.
'My goals for the next session of Congress include strengthening our national defense against further deep cuts, keeping Hill Air Force Base viable, maintaining environmentally-sound multiple uses of lands, (and) preventing the draining of Lake Powell,' Hansen said in the pamphlet.
Eskelsen, challenging Cook for the U.S. Congressional District No. 2 seat, has much experience in education. She was a 6th grade teacher in Utah for about 10 years and in 1990 received the Teacher of the Year award.
Eskelsen served as the president of the Utah Education Association for nearly six years. In her campaign, Eskelsen is representing herself as a middle-class individual who can relate to Utah's middle class.
Cook is seeking re-election after serving his first term in the House. When he won the position two years ago, it was came after losing in five previous campaigns. He serves on the House Transportation, Science and Banking committees.
Cook is a small business owner who received degrees from the University of Utah and Harvard. He is an advocate for tax cuts and tax reform. He also supports campaign finance reform and health care reform.