This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Republican party officials picked three possible replacements for Utah State Treasurer Richard Ellis on Saturday, with former congressional candidate Neil Walter getting the most votes.
The names of Walter and the two other candidates, David Damschen and Phil Conder, will be forwarded to Gov. Gary Herbert, who will appoint one to replace Ellis, who is leaving the post to become senior director of compliance and communications at the Utah Education Savings Plan. He was elected to be the state's treasurer in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.
Herbert will choose one of the three to replace Ellis, and is not obligated to pick the one who received the most votes at Saturday's Utah Republican State Central Committee meeting.
Walter sought the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson in 2010, but lost to Morgan Philpot. He is the chief operating officer and an owner of Brokers Holdings, which does real-estate sales and leasing. He holds a master's in business administration from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor's degree in finance from Brigham Young University.
Damschen has been the chief deputy state treasurer under Ellis for the last seven years and had Ellis' endorsement as his successor. Before that he held various treasury and management posts at U.S. Bank and AmericanWest Bank.
Conder has been a candidate for the state Legislature and is currently the budget, fiscal and records officer in the Salt Lake County treasurer's office.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke