That makes Goodfellow, a Democrat, the better choice to represent Senate District 12, where he has served since being appointed a year ago.
Goodfellow's opponent, Christy Achziger, a Republican, was elected to a special service agency overseeing recreation and green-belt properties in Stansbury Park.
Achziger says the primary campaign issue is taxes. She says she would fight any automatic property-tax increase, referring to Goodfellow's interest in a study of indexing the property tax to inflation to provide a steady revenue stream from small individual increases. Currently the tax rate floats downward as property values go up.
The Tribune Editorial Board believes Achziger's idea for increasing revenue - encouraging development of oil shale, natural gas, oil and wind, and then taxing energy developers - is less viable. Producing oil from shale is unappealing at present, as it may use more energy than it creates and would tear up the public lands of eastern Utah.
It seems unlikely, in any case, that Achziger's s GOP colleagues would sit still for raising taxes on the energy developers.
Goodfellow's first priority is education. He opposes a flat income tax and income-tax cuts that favor the wealthy at the expense of education, but he does support indexing tax brackets. He supports the Jones/Mascaro proposal to eliminate income tax breaks for large families and opposes private school vouchers and tuition tax credits.
He reasonably contends that if students leave public schools for private or charter schools, diversity in public education and the positive effects impact of students learning from, and about, one another will diminish.
Goodfellow's 70 percent success rate for legislation he has introduced in a Republican-controlled Legislature speaks well of his ability to work within the system even while opposing the most conservative elements of the majority party.
The Senate, in need of moderating voices, would get one in Goodfellow.
* SENATE DISTRICT 12 comprises all of Magna and Stansbury Park, western West Valley City plus an area from 2200 West to 6000 West between 3500 South and 4100 South.
