After its keynote speaker was arrested on suspicion of tampering with a Democratic U.S. senator's phone, the Salt Lake County Republican Party has found a political talk show host to fill that top slot at its Lincoln Day Dinner.

It's not Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity.

Instead, the GOP has snagged a pundit by the name of Guy Benson, whose show is heard weekly on Chicago's AM 560 WIND. He's the executive producer of the Sandy Rios Show in Chicago and a contributor to the National Review Online and Breitbart's Big Hollywood blogs.

Benson, 24, defines himself as the nation's youngest political talk show host serving a top market.

County GOP Chairman Thomas Wright praised the pick, saying Benson will speak about energizing the Republican base and getting young people more involved in the party.

The message, according to the GOP's Facebook page, is to "get the young voters back from [Barack] Obama while simultaneously encouraging lifelong Republicans."

The Lincoln Day Dinner is at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City.

Benson replaces conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe, charged last month in an alleged plot to tamper with the phone of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

Jeremiah Stettler