Orem » The way Linnea Barney sees it, Utah's state government is out of balance, listing too far to the right.
"When you have a bipartisan system, it works best when you have two parties," Barney said while announcing her run as a Democrat for the Utah State Senate. "When you have all the ideas coming from one party, it becomes an oligarchy."
Barney, an Orem resident and former member of the Utah State Board of Education and the Utah State Board of Regents, announced her run against Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, at Cherry Hill Elementary School on Monday.
Dayton, Barney said, has gone unchallenged for far too long. Dayton was first appointed to the Utah House of Representatives in 1996 and was elected to the Senate in 2006.
She said she tried to reform the system by participating in the GOP, but realized the process excluded moderates.
Barney said she realized the Legislature was out of touch with Utah County's moderate mainstream while she was on the state school board. She said the Legislature has been systematically attacking public education for the past 20 years, demonizing public education as "government schools" that wield too much power.
Dayton voted in 2008 against state-funding for the International Baccalaureate program, an academically rigorous program, claiming it espoused an "anti-American" philosophy. She was also a supporter of the school voucher bill that was defeated in a public referendum in 2007.
Dayton said Barney has the right to run, but she questioned the contention that the Legislature is anti-education.
"The last couple of years when we have had budget surpluses, we have made sure education was funded," Dayton said. "And when we have had to cut the budget, every part of the budget was cut except public education."
Dayton said Barney will offer an alternative view in the election, the voters will decide which one best represents them.
Kim Burningham, who sat on the school board with Barney, said Barney is a candidate who is interested in doing what is right for Utah's children, and is not there to engage in partisanship or political grandstanding.
"I want a legislator who will see children as our greatest resource," said Burningham, a Republican who also chairs Utahns for Ethical Government (UEG).
Barney supports UEG's ethics initiative, as she believes it would set a higher ethical standard than what would result from the bills the Legislature has voted on this session.
Barney also said, as a Utah County Democrat, she shares the same moral and family values as others in the valley.
