We Utahns have learned recently that there will be a prime time governor’s race debate on TV in June. Why so early? Because the Republican primary takes place in June and we’ve been told that is where the governor’s race will really be decided, rather than in November.
So, a few weeks ago in a Sunday Tribune commentary, Kem Gardner admonished Democrats and independents to register as Republicans for the June closed Republican primary so they can also have a chance to help elect the upcoming governor of Utah.
I’m already a registered Republican. But I’m a moderate who has seen that party swing far right and leave her and many others off in the dust.
Four candidates will be on the stand for that prime time June debate, all of them Republicans. But all four of them are self-professed Donald Trump supporters. Does that mean, if the governor’s race is decided in June, that Utahns will only have the choice of selecting a pro-Trump Governor?
We have learned in a recent poll that Utah is 59% pro-Trump. That figure is higher than I would have suspected. But it’s less than 60%, which has until recently (when the law was changed) been the percentage needed at a state convention to allow a candidate to bypass a primary election entirely. That is 59%, not 100% or even 80%. Yet only those four — all pro-Trump Republicans — are going to be given the opportunity to share their views and appeal to Utah voters, in prime time, to compete for the title of governor of Utah.
There is another candidate — one who isn’t even mentioned but should be a major player in the governor’s contest. He will be on the ballot, come November. But he won’t be given the opportunity to even debate the issues with these other four. That gives him small likelihood of getting the votes he needs to succeed.
And he’s not a Trump supporter. So, if the poll was correct about the 59% Trump support here, he could actually be representing around 40% of Utah’s population. That person is the Democratic candidate for governor: Chris Peterson.
In the past, Utah has had some strong Democratic governors and they’ve provided a great check and balance to the state Legislature. Now the Legislature is not just leaning right; it’s generally far right. Lately that legislature has passed measures that aren’t even supported by the will of the people, as seen by the ballot initiatives that have appeared and passed and then been trounced by that same legislature.
And recently the governor has seemed to get along seemingly too well with the Legislature, almost always signing bills it passes, its plans for government spending, etc. Perhaps it is high time for Utahns once again to elect a Democrat for governor.
So here we are now with four candidates who are supporting a U.S. president who has hijacked the Republican Party. And they are the only ones who will be in the extremely important governor’s debate in June. So, is the June debate also going to be hijacked by President Trump? Don’t Utahns have a right to a greater, better voice than that?
Get Chris Peterson, the Democrat running for governor, on the stage in June, too. Let us hear him and his policies in comparison to the other four and allow us to make our own decision of whom to vote for. Don’t force Utah to make its decision for governor before he even has a chance to speak. How extremely undemocratic is that?! Make him part of June’s governor’s debate, too.
Anna Clare Shepherd
Anna Clare Shepherd, Millcreek, is the mother of eight children, all grown, and was a leader in the effort to make Millcreek a city.