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SALT LAKE CITY — Democratic gubernatorial candidates Vaughn Cook and Mike Weinholtz took aim at Utah's Republican-dominated state government more than at each other in their first debate Monday.

Though they might take different approaches on some issues, the two candidates agreed that the GOP isn't doing things the right way on education, Medicaid, public lands or a host of other things. Both said they're running against Gov. Gary Herbert and what Cook called a "sick" system that needs the healing that Democrats could provide.

Most Utah voters enter the ballot booth "marginally informed" and choose Republicans, believing they most likely represent their values and that all Mormons are Republicans, Cook said, adding that neither is true.

"We have to break that myth in order for people to look at Democrats in a serious way and realize we really have a lot of good ideas," he said. "Too often, people look at Democrats as scary and immoral."

Weinholtz said the Republican supermajority has become more "ultraconservative" over the past decade and less reflective of most Utahns' views. He said he's running to break up the state's "one-party" system from the top down.

"Starting with the governor's office is a great place to start because that's where the veto pen is, that's where the bully pulpit is, and I could engage people so they can respond to their legislators and then the legislators will now have to pay attention to their people and give them a voice, which they don't do today because of the supermajority," he said.

Also Monday, Cook and Weinholtz named their running mates for lieutenant governor.

Community advocate Jan Garbett, a mother of eight and a grandmother, joined the Cook ticket. Garbett and her husband, former Republican state lawmaker Bryson Garbett, run a construction company.

Weinholtz tapped Greater Avenues Community Council Chairman-elect Kim Bowman. A lawyer and Air Force captain, Bowman works as division manager at University of Utah Health Sciences.

The two Democrats are looking to unseat incumbent Herbert, who faces an intraparty challenge from Overstock.com Chairman Jonathan Johnson.

Weinholtz, 62, the former CEO of CHG Healthcare Services, and Cook, 66, an Oriental medicine doctor and owner of a health wellness technology company called Zyto, did little to distinguish themselves from each other politically during the debate on KSL Newsradio.

Both said the Republican-controlled Legislature didn't go far enough to extend Medicaid to 11,000 Utahns and should pass a full expansion plan. Cook said it's time to stop the "politics first" strategy, while Weinholtz called it "morally bankrupt and fiscally irresponsible."

The two candidates also say as governor they would sign a medical marijuana bill and called its failure this year an example of GOP lawmakers not listening to residents.

On education, Weinholtz said the GOP governor and legislators pat themselves on the back for providing more money, but Utah still remains last in the nation in per-student spending.

"We can't call ourselves a family-friendly state if we're not going to invest in our children's future," he said, adding that lawmakers shouldn't raid the public education fund for other uses.

Cook said Utahns would favor a tax increase earmarked for education.

"When I look at the trends over the last 20 years, I see a pattern of systematic starvation. I feel like we put our kids in jail, and now we're trying to feed them the least amount of food we can, and see how little we can feed them until they actually die," he said.

Another example of lawmakers not listening is the Republican-led effort to spend millions of dollars to wrest control of federal lands in the state, Weinholtz said.

He said it's a "fool's errand" to go after those lands.

"It's a classic example of ideology run amok. This is only being pushed by a very small group of Republicans and largely by real estate developers and oil companies. They're the only people that are going to benefit from this sort of thing," Weinholtz said.

Cook called it an "exercise in futility," saying the state is spending too much money on frivolous lawsuits. He said the state can't afford to take care of the lands, especially if there were a wildfire that cost $200 million or $300 million to fight.

"What would we do the next year? We would sell off a lot of that land just to pay for the fire," he said.

Contributing: Ladd Egan

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