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The conclusion of a debate between candidates for Utah's 3rd Congressional District became heated Friday when one participant tried to link the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, to a lobbyist/bribery scandal.

Cannon, a Republican, denounced statements by his Democratic opponent, Christian Burridge, who was noting the fact that Cannon's former chief of staff was convicted on charges stemming from the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

Burridge's comments came during his closing statement, which he dedicated to calling for lobbyist and ethics reform in Congress, including a two- to five-year blackout period to limit the "revolving door" between Congress and lobbying firms.

"In our 3rd District congressional office," Burridge said, "David Safavian, who was a gambling lobbyist who worked for Jack Abramoff, came in to our office, ran our office and then lobbied --"

Cannon: "Pardon me. May I just interject herefi"

Burridge: "No, it's my 30 seconds."

Cannon: "It's not your 30 seconds. This is a personal attack ..."

Cannon said Safavian's legal troubles have nothing to do with his office.

"It's deeply offensive to claim that," he said. "These are issues of great importance to me. They go to my integrity.

"To make wanton, and aggressive, and twisted and wrong factually based allegations isn't appropriate in a debate like this. ... I expect an apology from Mr. Burridge for saying those things that are outrageous and wrong and factually incorrect."

Burridge, however, didn't apologize.

"The rules of propriety are that you need to be responsible for your record and what you've done and who you hired in your office," Burridge said. "When considering the person that you're going to vote for, you should know what goes on in our taxpayer-funded congressional offices. People need to know the types of people that their congressman is associating with."

Safavian, who was a high-ranking White House official when he was indicted, was convicted of lying to investigators about his relationship with Abramoff. Prosecutors have recommended a 30- to 37-month sentence, according to the publication Roll Call, and Safavian is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 27.

Abramoff has been convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges and is in the middle of an influence-peddling investigation.

As Friday's debate wound down, Constitution Party member Jim Noorlander chimed in and said that he found Burridge's comments "completely unwarranted."

"I think Mr. Cannon is absolutely right," he said. "Mr. Burridge was out of line."

For his part, Libertarian Philip Hallman said he took the verbal sparring in stride.

"Oh, I think everybody in Congress is a scumbag," he said. "That's why I'm running."

Audio of the full debate will be posted next week on the Daily Herald's Web site, www.heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.