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Jonathan Johnson bested Gov. Gary Herbert at the Utah Republican Convention in the delegate tally by running to the right of the incumbent on issues such as taxes, public lands and education.
To bolster his conservative bona fides, he selected as his lieutenant-governor running mate Robyn Bagley, a star in the alternative-education movement that has shifted some resources from traditional public schools to charters and other nontraditional options.
Bagley has been a leader for years in Parents for Choice in Education, a primary supporter of the voucher system that would give tax credits to parents enrolling their children in private schools.
After voters repealed that law in 2007, Bagley became a force in the charter-school drive, which provides a different education model than traditional public schools.
And, like Johnson, she has been a critic of the Common Core standards adopted by the state Board of Education and of Herbert for not taking a strong stand against the that decision.
But Bagley's own record as a school administrator seems wanting compared with the traditional public school system she has assailed.
Bagley is the director of Career Path High School — a collaboration with the Davis Applied Technology College in Kaysville, whose students earn certificates in various trades.
Bagley's school offers regular core classes online while trades courses are taught at the college.
So far, though, that school's graduation rates have been dismal compared with other public schools.
Career Path High's graduation rate in 2015 was 57 percent, according to the state Office of Education. The statewide average for all public schools is 84 percent. The school's students also lag in proficiency in core subjects compared with other schools.
The statewide SAGE tests measure proficiency in language arts, mathematics and science. According to the SAGE website, Career Path's students in 2015 averaged a 41 percent proficiency rate in language arts, 16 percent in math and 36 percent in science.
Statewide averages are 44 percent in language arts, 45 percent in math and 47 percent in science.
Bagley said that when Career Path opened in 2013, the school attracted a large population of academically at-risk students — kids who were dropping out of high school.
"For those [who] criticize the school's graduation rates," she said in a statement, "they need to remember where the students came from and remember that the school saw an over 10 percent increase in graduation rates from year one to year two with the same credit-deficit demographic."
She added that with its early-college model, Career Path was able to take students who were most likely not going to graduate and lead them toward graduation with technical certificates "to gain high-paying and meaningful employment."
Bagley, as the school's director, makes $139,879 annually, according to the Utah transparency website. That compares with the $70,000 to $100,000 that school principals typically earn in regular public high schools, as estimated by education experts.
Another Parents for Choice in Education alumna, Judith Clark, is the technology director for Career Path High. She makes $80,000 a year.
Career Path also pays more than $68,000 to Academica West, a charter-school management company, to perform the school's accounting, finance and other business needs.