Castle Country Radio sat down with Republican incumbent for House District 67 Christine Watkins to discuss her reelection bid and to learn more about her plans for H.D. 67.
Opening up our conversation, we asked Rep. Watkins what inspired her to run for reelection,” We’ve got a lot of things going on in our district. We are part of the fossil fuel corridor that I just absolutely love representing. But especially in Carbon and Emery, we’re trying to look to the future and see what we can do to change our economy, to bring more business and industry.” Watkins continued,” I wanted to be around to help with that. I’ve been in the legislature long enough and been successful, so I’m not going to say the word power because I would probably put that with leadership and I’m not in leadership, but I have influence and I want to use that here.”
Our next question for Watkins was why she felt she was the best choice to serve the residents of H.D. 67. “I’ve been there long enough to understand how it works. I’ve gone through a lot of members that have come and gone. And I’ve proved who I am and what I stand for. And that is rural Utah. It is the fossil fuel industry, which is not dead. We in the country and the state of Utah desperately need what we have to offer. And so I just feel like I have the knowledge, the temperament and the skills to get done the things that we need for our area.”
One aspect of Watkins’ campaign that has caught voter’s attention is the “True Grit” campaign signs that hang around the Castle Country Area. We asked Watkins to explain these signs, and how “True Grit” benefits her constituents,” My husband and I were putting together some trifles that you hand out to people when you knock on doors and you leave them out. And he said he put in true grit. And of course, he knew me really well and he knew how I worked and persevered when there was a problem trying to get it solved. And so he put in true grit because I don’t I don’t back off and I’m not afraid, and I’m willing to take risks,” explained Watkins,” It’s rural. And I’m proud to be rural.”
On her campaign website, Watkins lays out major points of emphasis on her platform; those being rural economic development, public education, oil, gas coal and agriculture. We asked her why these issues were so important to her, starting with rural economic development,” We have to be aggressive in having the infrastructure, the people, the resources for companies to come, whether they’re manufacturing, whether they’re a call center like our Amazon building, this warehouse that’s being built. All of those help make us better. I was in a meeting with mayors and commissioners. And we were talking about the tax base that we need. Because if we don’t have that coming in for the county, guess who has to make up for it? We do as the people that live here. And that’s been hurting a lot of us, including me.”
She then spoke on the importance of public education,” I was a teacher in Emery County. I was married to a teacher. In fact, both my husbands were teachers. My parents were teachers. I love education. And without a good, solid education, you’re not going to get anywhere, you will struggle all of your life. So to all the people out there who have kids in school, you keep them in school and you encourage them. And I especially love public education … Public education is what our forefathers wanted us to have. And they knew how important it was. And so it’s important for me to be there for education.”
Another point of emphasis for Watkins is natural resources such as oil, gas and coal. “ We don’t have coal in Carbon County anymore. But we have all of those auxiliary industries that help with the coal industry that we have in Emery County and some in Sanpete County. So I just think that’s where our good jobs are. And a lot of people may say, ‘Oh, well, it’s just kind of a low-level job.’ No, it isn’t, not anymore. It is very intricate. You have to know what you’re doing. There’s a lot of science in it. And every time I go out on a tour of anything, I’m just in awe of the men and women who work in these positions and how smart they are and how truly caring they are about their industry and the people that they serve.”
Watkins then discussed her final platform cornerstone: agriculture,” I’m a farm girl. I grew up on a farm in Lewiston, Utah … so I grew up having lots and lots of responsibility for working on the farm. My favorite 4-H project was Holstein calves. And I would show them at the Cache County Fair, the Black and White Days in Richmond. But I love farmers and ranchers and I love what they do.” Watkins continued,” I live out in the country. I’m surrounded by hay fields that have wild turkeys and antelope and deer and all of the critters that come along with that. And I just love rural Utah. I’ve just never lived in the big city. Even when I lived in California as a teenager, we were in a farming community. And so to me, that’s where it’s at. And people sometimes underestimate, no, really underestimate how important farmers and ranchers are in their lives.”
Our final question for Watkins was simple; why should the residents of H.D. 67 vote for her? “I get things done. I represent not only our oil, gas, coal, public education and agriculture. I work hard for families. If we don’t have strong families and strong communities, all the rest of it just falls apart. And I spoke at UB Tech and Roosevelt in May for their graduation. And my speech, the theme of it was love where you live. And it was the idea that when you’ve become successful and you’ve graduated from school and you’ve got a good job, then work for your communities, help your mayors, help your city councilmen, help your commissioners volunteer for all of the really fun things that we have going in all of our communities, just love where you live and help make it better for everyone.”
To learn more about Watkin’s campaign, you can visit watkinsforruralutah.com.