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West Valley City • It's not often a candidate for political office in Utah says it's an advantage being a Democrat, but that's what state House hopeful Mike Lee said Tuesday night.
"As a Democrat I get to freely vote however I want [if elected to the Legislature]. I don't have a leadership telling me how I need to vote in a closed-door caucus," Lee, no relation to the GOP senator, said during a debate in the West Valley City Library.
Republican Fred Cox, a former member of the state House, said he prides himself on being fair and reasonable regardless of who sponsors a bill or what their party affiliation is.
"I have always looked at each bill as an issue," Cox said.
The two candidates for the House District 30 seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Janice Fisher, differed on many issues, from education to ethics.
Cox, like a number of conservative Republicans, opposes the Common Core standards adopted by Utah public schools.
He said the national standards undermine the principle of local control
"Common core wasn't necessarily written by teachers, it was written by a governor's association and another entity," said Cox.
Lee said that while he believes there is work left to be done on the Common Core, he thinks such standards are important. Putting a personal touch on the issue, he said he believes if his daughter were held to the Common Core benchmarks she would be better prepared for college.
The Democrat also identified Utah's large class sizes as a critical issue that needs to be addressed, saying they should be drastically reduced.
"Education is the gateway to everything else, and teachers are those gatekeepers," Lee said.
His opponent, however, said instead of cutting class sizes, he would favor providing teachers with classroom assistants to better handle students.
The candidates also touched on the scandal involving former state Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff .
Cox prided himself in his work on trying to plug ethics loopholes during his time in the Legislature and wants to push for more transparency in Utah's campaigns and government.
"People need to have trust," Cox said.
Lee advocated limits on campaign contributions, which in Utah are largely unregulated beyond disclosure requirements. He said because of lax campaign laws, the Swallow/Shurtleff scandal may be the tip of the iceberg.
"We've developed a possible culture of corruption here," Lee said. "The Legislature had the opportunity last year when all this went down and it was in the spotlight to do something and they didn't do it. We need to make sure something happens this year," Lee said.