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Salt Lake City's Mayoral Race And The Question Of Religion

Photo of Luz Escamilla
Renee Bright/KUER
Luz Escamilla at KUER's Mayoral Conversations on September 10.

  Should the religion of a political candidate matter to voters? It’s a question that has stirred up debate here in Salt Lake City, where former mayor Rocky Anderson has made an issue of current mayoral candidate Luz Escamilla’s LDS faith.

RadioWest divider.

Should the religion of a political candidate matter to voters? It’s a question that has stirred up debate here in Salt Lake City, where Rocky Anderson, former mayor, made an issue of current mayoral candidate Luz Escamilla’s LDS faith. Escamilla responded by asking voters to look at her political record, not her LDS temple recommend. But in a city and a state that, to some, can seem dominated by “the Church,” there are voters who admit that they will not vote for a Mormon candidate. Critics call that bigotry. We’ll hear from both sides in this debate, and take the temperature of relations between Utah’s Mormons and “Gentiles.” 

GUESTS

  • Rocky Anderson, former Salt Lake City mayor
  • Luz Escamilla, Utah State Senator, Salt Lake City mayoral candidate
  • Robert Gehrke, columnist, Salt Lake Tribune
  • Dave Owen, political consultant
  • Kristin Hodson, liscened clinical social worker and therapist
  • Dr. Patrick Mason is the Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University
Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.