Republicans field commission candidate

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

The Emery County Republicans met in their county convention and selected Lynn Sitterud to represent them in the county commission race in November.
They reported they had 691 people that participated in the caucus meetings in March.
The Emery County Republican voters cast 114 votes for Donald Trump, 444 for Ted Cruz and 87 for John Kasich.
There were a number of representatives of those running for federal and state office at the meeting. Sen. Mike Lee is running for the Senate. His spokesperson said Sen. Lee will continue to push for a conservative agenda in Washington. He would like to simplify the tax code, modernize education and protect families.
Chia-chi Teng is running against Rep. Jason Chaffetz for Congress from the third district. Teng said he is an engineering professor at BYU. He was born and raised in Taiwan.
He helps write code for Microsoft. He immigrated to the United States in 1987. “This has truly been the land of opportunity. I teach at BYU and work with the students who go out and change the world. I see students go out and follow their dreams. I would like to give back by running for office. We need smarter government and smaller with less taxation. I support term limits. I am hopeful for the future,” said Teng.
Heather was the representative from Rep. Jason Chaffetz office. She said orignially she wasn’t a fan of Jason. But, when she was mayor of Eagle Mtn. City, he came out and helped with their fire and was very attentive to what the city needed. He also spent the day there and let them know when the fire was shifting. Rep. Chaffetz likes to say he represents the views of the people of Utah to Washington and not the other way around.
Phil Wright, Vice chairman of the Utah Republican party said the caucus system gives a voice to the local people. Without it state and national candidates wouldn’t have any reason to visit the rural counties.
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, representing Gov. Herbert, said he lives in Fairview and his sister married an Emery County boy so he has close ties to this area. When the governor asked him to be his lt. governor he told the governor he wasn’t moving to Salt Lake. He wants to raise his children on the family farm.
He said Utah has the number one economy in the United States, but that doesn’t include rural Utah. There are challenges in rural Utah, there is a war on coal and Gov. Herbert is fighting for coal.
“My neighbors work in coal mines. Our nation needs coal. Gov. Herbert has stood up to the people in California. We have a right to produce coal here. We don’t need any new national monuments. The state of Utah has a lawsuit against the federal government.
“We work hard for rural Utah. We brought the legislators down here on a tour and spent two days.
“You have to want to live in Sanpete County or Emery County, it’s hard to live in Emery County,” said Lt. Gov Cox.
Jonathan Johnson is also running for Governor. He is a businessman and is the chairman of the board for Overstock.com.
He said Utah needs a governor that can say no to Obamacare. He believes rural Utah should have access to its lands. Johnson said you can find out more about him at hirejj.com. He would like to see states have more control over education and less federal involvement.
Mike Mower, the deputy chief of staff for Gov. Herbert spoke in support of Sen. David Hinkins. “I work with him every day and he is well deserving of re-election. Sen. Hinkins is running against people from the Wasatch Front. He is willing to fight to keep coal jobs. The power rates in California are 35 cents per kh; here they are 10 cents per kh. Solar panels and wind turbines, kill birds, they don’t tell you the downside of renewable energy. Coal is a wonderful resource and the governor has helped to protect it. The governor has said to fight the battles you can win. I hope we get a representative in the White House who can help us out.”