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Controversy surrounding the massive raid on a polygamous enclave in Texas spilled over into Utah politics Friday during one of the first candidate debates in the 3rd Congressional District race.

Rep. Chris Cannon said the government should not be going after polygamists solely because they practice plural marriage, relying on a controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects homosexual relationships.

But his fellow Republican challenger, David Leavitt, who as a county attorney filed bigamy charges against polygamist Tom Green in 2000, said that polygamists should be prosecuted, or it will pave the road to same-sex marriage.

"What's at issue is the redefinition of marriage," Leavitt said during a broadcast debate on KNRS radio. "If we allow two consenting women and a consenting man to redefine what our society says is marriage, then we have opened the door for the redefinition of marriage for same-gender marriage. This is a broader scope than just polygamy."

Cannon said he is offended by polygamous sects that force members to remain part of the group, but there are "lots of women who choose to be in polygamous relationships and who are very articulate about the benefits they get."

"I don't think it's the place of society to prosecute people who choose to cohabitate responsibly and are responsible for their children as opposed to men who are licentious or women who are licentious who are producing children that don't have place or context or male authority in their lives," Cannon said.

Cannon said that, if the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas striking down Texas' anti-sodomy statute is the "law of the land," polygamy also should be allowed.

The same applies to consenting gay couples or other adult relationships, Cannon's spokesman, Fred Piccolo, said later when asked to clarify the congressman's view. Legal same-sex marriage is a different issue that Cannon opposes, Piccolo said.

Jason Chaffetz, who is also seeking the GOP nomination, said law enforcement should intervene when crimes are committed.

"But I'm very concerned in this particular case that our government, or the state government of Texas in this case, has overstepped its bounds," he said. "They should be prosecuting or going after individuals, not large groups of people. The idea that we're extracting hundreds and hundreds of kids and not allowing mothers to see little 3-year-old kids should be troubling to all of us."

The candidates' comments, coming in the aftermath of the raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints temple in Eldorado, Texas, wades into an issue that has been politically thorny since Utah's statehood.

"It's a sensitive topic because it's so complex. You can come at it from so many different perspectives," said Kelly Patterson, a political scientist at Brigham Young University. "Complexity in politics is often difficult because campaigns are not fought on complexity and subtleties."

Both Cannon and Leavitt are from families with prominent polygamist ancestry. Leavitt's brother, former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, created a political firestorm when he said polygamy may be a protected religious exercise.

As Juab County Attorney, David Leavitt charged Green, an avowed polygamist, in April 2000 with criminal nonsupport and four counts of bigamy.

Green was convicted, but during the trial, Leavitt said he was besieged with threats, had to have round-the-clock police protection, and the state police issued a bullet-proof vest to his wife. When he ran for re-election in 2002, he lost by 22 votes, in part, he said, because of the Green case.