Two months before the deadline to file a statement of candidacy for office, longtime Tooele County Rep. Jim Gowans is drawing a conservative challenger. Republican Jess Clifford announced Monday his intent to run for Gowans' House District 21 seat. With the school choice debate guaranteed to erupt again in the 2006 Legislature, Gowans, a seven-term Democrat, figures Clifford was recruited by supporters of tuition tax credits and school vouchers. A long-time public school employee, Gowans has opposed legislation that would give parents who send their children to private schools a tax break. Clifford's news release lists four issues as his priorities: promoting school choice, blocking the storage of high-level nuclear waste in Skull Valley, securing "more open" use of public lands and exercising fiscal responsibility. "I want to help empower parents to make choices for their children's education. Parents are the divinely instituted director for their kids," he said. "Nobody knows their child's needs better than a parent." But Gowans, a former school district administrator, says school choice proponents have not convinced him such a private school-incentive program would help all Utah students. For example, Gowans says, rural children may be left out because of a lack of private schools in far-flung Utah communities. "I don't think that's healthy for public education," Gowans said. - Rebecca Walsh