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Fourth Congressional District candidates, Republican Mia Love and Democrat Doug Owens, shake hands after a debate during the 36th Annual Utah Taxes Now Conference in Salt Lake City Tuesday, May 20, 2014.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY The first debate between Republican Mia Love and Democrat Doug Owens in the race for Utah's only open seat in Congress quickly turned confrontational Tuesday, with Owens repeatedly challenging Love.

What no doubt will be a hard-fought battle for the 4th District seat now held by Rep. Jim Matheson, the sole Democrat in Utah's congressional delegation, kicked off at the Utah Taxpayers Association's annual conference.

Love, the former Saratoga Springs mayor who nearly defeated Matheson two years ago in a high-profile race that attracted national attention, largely focused her remarks on the issues raised during the debate.

But Owens, a lawyer and the son of late Utah congressman Wayne Owens, took issue with what he described as Love's "extreme views" while portraying himself as more pragmatic and less of an ideologue.

In his opening statement, Owens said Love applauded last year's federal government shutdown during a rally for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the leaders of the fight against the Affordable Care Act that led to the shutdown.

"That's the distinction between me and her. I see the shutdown as a breakdown," Owens told the audience of about 150, calling the shutdown "the worst manifestation" of Congress' "extreme partisanship."

He said Love is driven by the national tea party agenda and questioned who she would be beholden to if elected because of support coming in for her campaign from out of state.

Owens also said Love wanted to create a voucher system for Medicare. She responded by first saying she was "flattered you bring my name up so much" and then declared she was committed to keeping the promises made to seniors.

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First debate between Love and Owens turns confrontational

CLARKSVILLE Democrat Larry Jones unseated Jimmy Dorney as Johnson County Sheriff in a tight primary race Tuesday, according to unofficial numbers with all 22 precincts reporting.

Jones narrowly defeated Dorney by a vote of 690 to 668.

Herman H. Houston defeated David Graves (421 votes) and James Melson (138 votes) with 792 votes.

Because no Republican candidate entered either of those races, Jones and Houston will avoid the general election in November, and take office on Jan. 1, 2015.

Jill Stumbaugh Tate, with 561 votes, will face Lisa Tipton Venson, with 404 votes, in a June 10 runoff election for Johnson County Assessor. Maurice "Mark" Tumbleson, who garnered 370 votes.

Democrat Pamela Cogan, with 950 votes, was elected Johnson County Coroner over Marshall McClatchey, who received 381 votes.

Other one-party contested races decided Tuesday include:

Democrat Mike Jacobs for Justice of the Peace (J.P.) District 1 over opponents Carol Porter Williams (13 votes) and Greg Phillips (31 votes). Jacobs, who received 76 votes, opted to run for J.P. rather than seek re-election as Johnson County Judge.

Democrat incumbent Gene Raible beat out Teresa Smith 87 to 54 to retain her seat as J.P. District 8.

Democrat Bertha "Bert" Wages defeated Chris Dickerson for J.P. District 11 by a vote of 92 to 45.

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New sheriff, judge for Johnson County

LITTLE ROCK Republican Asa Hutchinson and Democrat Mike Ross easily secured their parties nominations for governor on Tuesday, defeating lesser-known and less well funded primary challengers.

Ross defeated substitute teacher Lynette Bryant, while Hutchinson defeated businessman Curtis Coleman. At 11:45 p.m. with 46 of 75 counties reported, unofficial election results from the secretary of states office showed Hutchinson with 73 percent of the vote in his race and Ross with 85 percent of the vote in his.

The former congressmen said they were looking forward to the general election race.

The general election campaign began at 7:30 this evening, right here. Im not wasting any time, Ross told the Arkansas News Bureau. I look forward to taking my positive vision and my plan for Arkansas future directly to the voters in all 75 counties over the next five months.

Ross said he wants to be known as the education governor.

Weve made a lot of progress in Arkansas, but weve still got a long way to go, and I think education is the key to improving our standing, he said.

Hutchinson told the Arkansas News Bureau he believes his primary win puts us in a very strong position as we look to the fall and what we know will be a very hotly contested contest.

He said he wants to be known for creating jobs and economic growth.

There will be great differences from Mr. Ross in terms of his record of new government programs versus my record of supporting the private sector and tax cuts that spur economic growth, Hutchinson said.

Coleman said he is throwing his support to Hutchinson and encourages his supporters to do the same.

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Ross, Hutchinson Win Easily

DANVILLE Democrat Mark Thone will retain his post as Yell County Judge after opponent Bob Dixon failed to unseat him in Tuesday's primary, according to unofficial results with all 28 precincts reporting.

Thone, who was first elected in 2010, received 1,421 votes to Dixon's 820. Because no Republican candidates filed for the position, Thone will avoid the November general election.

Democrat Debra Kitchens Craig received 1,531 votes and defeated Ed Seay, who received 685, for Yell County Treasurer. Again, because no Republican candidate emerged for the primary, Craig will take office in January without enduring a general election.

Other one-party contested races in Yell County decided Tuesday were:

Democrat Rick Padgett for Justice of the Peace (J.P.) District 3. Padgett received 94 votes to challenger Bob Burnham's 79.

Democrat Darrell Carter for J.P. District 4. Carter beat out Lavonne Roddy (93 votes) and Randy Isley (101 votes) with 158 votes.

Democrat incumbent Travis Garner defeated Jim C. Gilkey, 201 to 76, for J.P. District 5.

Democrat incumbent Kenneth R. Jackson was elected Ferguson Constable 123 to 108 over opponent Billy Alvey.

Yell County Sheriff Bill Gilkey (D) will face Gary Noblett (R) in November. Neither man faced an opponent in Tuesday's primary.

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Thone defeats Dixon

New York State Republican Convention - Talk of the Table

By: Richard French

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New York State Republican Convention - Talk of the Table - Video