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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