By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Throughout the 2024 general election cycle, Castle Country Radio has met with 15 separate candidates either at a meet-the-candidates event or on a one-to-one basis on Castle Country Focus. Over these meetings, we’ve covered a wide variety of topics including the economy, public lands, leadership strategies and highway safety. Among all of these events however one question has remained consistent: Why should the Residents of the Castle Country vote for you?
The following is a compilation of each candidate’s answers to that simple question. Their answers that appear below – with the candidates listed in alphabetical order – may have been edited slightly for length, style or grammar.
Robert Olson: I would like to tell the people of Carbon County that I do stand for you. I do stand for making this a better job. I will train the staff. I will save the county money, as I’ve described in the past. I will provide effective, accurate, and fair assessments. I will return professionalism to this office so that it is well-respected and well-regarded among the citizens of the county and the state. Those are my promises to you. To work hard, I will work 40 hours a week. I can promise that … I’ve always worked hard. And I promise you that I’ll do the same as your Assessor.
Amy Schmidt-Peters: I’m just looking forward to serving you. I have served the public pretty much all my life and I look forward to doing that from the assessor’s office. I have the leadership ability. I have a financial background. I just want to be there for you guys and I want to uphold fairness throughout the county.
Utah Attorney General
Rudy Bautista: I have a history of serving not only this country but the people of this state. And I have proved myself to stand up to oppression and I stand up for clients. And as attorney general, my client would be the people of this state. One of the things I want to institute is an office within the attorney general’s office whose sole responsibility is to get a heartbeat of the public and what they want … What I want to do is clean up the image of the state and make sure that our rights are upheld for all of us. And not let just a few people in the legislature that is dominated by one political party dictate the course for all of our citizens.
Derek Brown: One of the biggest reasons I’m running is the degree to which the federal government has really sort of crept into every aspect of our life. I mean it doesn’t matter what business you’re in. It does not matter where you are, there is a federal agency that can put you out of business … I spent some time in Piute County, which was more about just saying what can I do? I mean, if I become the AG, what would you like to see? So that, that is for me, it’s critical. Because the AG is less about telling everybody what to do and more about directing resources, having a vision, and then having these lines of communication with the counties.”
Michelle Quist: I think I’ve been pretty clear on this call. I have the most legal experience, all of broad legal experience before Utah courts. I’m reforming the office to an independent office to take the politics out of our law enforcement and out of our Utah Attorney General’s office that has had So many problems over the past few decades and a vote for me will also send a message to the party who has had stewardship over this office for two decades to problematic decades that voters have not been happy with that stewardship and they’re ready for something new.
Jared Haddock: Because I care, and I don’t mean that lightly. I think my actions speak louder than words. I’ve had to put my money where my mouth is. I think the best way you can tell what kind of a job I would do is by looking at what I was doing before I even thought of running as a commissioner. If I’m a part of those boards and doing what I can to be active and involved and volunteering our time early before this, then I think I’ll be able to do a better job when I’m able to spend more time working on it. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
David Palacios: Everything I’ve done in my life for the last 50 years has just kind of dropped me into this spot right here I have some wonderful experiences when it comes to the different facets of what we do here in Carbon County. I grew up here I was born and raised here I’ve been here a long time. I think I understand this community and this County. I’ve spent time in all the municipalities up in the mountains and just like we all know, this is a great place, this is a wonderful place, and I want to be able to maintain that. I think for the most part why I’m asking for people to vote for me is my experience. I know how to communicate with people, and I make myself available 24/7, that’s just what I’m used to. And I think that’s what is important to people that live in this County. I want to see us grow in a controlled manner and I want to be able to do this job. And again my promise is that I will be there full-time; I’ll be available full-time and I’m not going to be doing anything else.
Joe Christman: I want to represent District 67 to give Utah what I feel is a voice that hasn’t been heard or acknowledged for some time. I believe that everybody should have equal opportunity to pursue their dreams to be treated fairly and equitably. I believe you should be able to choose your health care, to be able to express who you are without malice or prejudice. I also believe in a life-sustaining wage for all and to be able to work in a safe and healthy workspace. I stand against unfair labor practices and believe that every Utahn has a duty and a right to support themselves and their families through honest labor. I also believe in an education system that supports the dignity of the child. I support our educators. I believe they need resources, tools, wages and benefits to ensure their student’s success. I stand for equality, equal justice and a lifetime of service. As your representative, I will focus on protecting and providing legislation that will support investments that will enrich our communities. I will rely on the best evidence, science and your voice to support development and research that keeps energy-related jobs and training in our communities. My fundamental values and integrity will not allow our differences between us to take precedence over the right to equal opportunity, the right to the fundamental values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Christine Watkins: 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.
Governor of Utah
Spencer Cox: I had this experience with the legislator many years ago when I was in the legislature who was from the Wasatch Front who said, ‘ Why should I care about rural Utah?’ And I said, like, I can’t think of any reason you would care about rural Utah. I mean, unless you care about your energy, your food, your water, your recreation. When rural Utah is strong, the rest of the state is strong … I’m very proud of our state and grateful for the accolades we’re receiving. We have some problems, we’re working on those, but we can solve those problems together.
Brian King: Right now, we’ve had one party controlling state government in both the legislature and the governor’s office for literally 40 years. The last year we had a Democrat in the governor’s office was 1984 with Scott Matheson. We’ve not had a Republican, or rather, we’ve not had a Democrat in the governor’s office since then. We can do better than to have just one party calling all the shots and making all the decisions. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And Utahns are injured because of that. We see it with regard to Amendment D, this most recent attempt by the legislature to grab power from the people of the state of Utah. So Utahns will be greatly benefited if we have the balance of power restored to Utah. And we can do that in this race by electing me as governor.
U.S. Senate
John Curtis: People who know me know that I visited eastern Utah more than anybody, any of my predecessors, and perhaps even more of all of them combined. I love that part of the state. And if they are good enough to reelect me as their senator, I’ll keep coming back and I’ll be there in person. We’ll understand their issues, and we’ll move the needle forward on issues that are important to them.
Caroline Gleich: In the last six years that my opponent has been in Congress, the average cost of a home has gone up nearly $200,000. Our air quality is worsening. We’ve seen these unprecedented attacks on our public lands. And I think we are seeing that our state and country are headed in the wrong direction. So if we want to correct course, we have to change the people that we send to be our politicians. We cannot keep recycling the same old politicians and expect them to get us out of this mess. It’s time for the next generation of leaders to step up. And to my opponent and to other Utahns who are feeling we’re headed in the wrong direction, we need to ask, what do you call a politician who’s been in office too long? You call him home. And it’s time for Rep. John Curtis to come home and send Caroline Gleich to the United States Senate.
Corbin Frost: I think that the answer is twofold. I’ve got a lot of experience as a creative problem solver and someone who was used to working with a lot of different constituents. I feel like I’ve got a good temperament and a good demeanor to bring to the table to work with people and find good solutions that benefit all parties. The second part of that I think is that there is a lot of supermajority control. If we’re not willing occasionally to go back and forth to vote for the other party and to find people who are reasonable and have good character then there can be a calcification within supermajority legislatures where parties start to act in ways that are beneficial to them and not to the members of their district. I think that I’m a Democrat that knows how to work with the other side and I think that that’s just healthy for our body of politics.
David Hinkins: I would say that I’m in a good position for the next four years. I would like to see our energy center be a little bit more stable and ongoing. I had no intention of being in the legislature this long, but I tell you what, you get projects going and you want to see them completed and it’s just something that you kind of get caught up in. I asked Mike Dmitrich how in the world he had stayed there 40 years and he said ‘ David, it just goes from one point A to point B.’ I’d like to thank my wife personally and my children, it means a lot to have their support. This job takes away your family life, but you’re doing it for your kids, and your grandkids.
Oran Stainbrook: I’ve traveled quite a bit and lived in a number of other places and I honestly think Utah is just hands down the greatest place in the world. And that’s why I choose to live here. But we’re facing some serious challenges that I think require creative thinking and an innovative approach. So regardless of the outcome of this election, I want everybody to know I’m here to stay and will continue to serve and advocate for you however I can. Whether in government, business, or community, I want us all to stay positive, optimistic and collaborate to create a future where we can all thrive together.