St. George attorney challenges crowded field for Hatch seat

By Rick Sherman
Sun Advocate Reporter

    St. George attorney and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Larry Meyers expressed disappointment that the media has already annointed Mitt Romney as the successor to retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch. Meyers made the comment during an interview with the Sun Advocate Friday afternoon.
    The candidate met with supporters and delegates in Price during a campaign swing through southeastern Utah that also included stops in Moab, Monticello and Blanding.
    Meyers said unlike Romney, he is a long-time Utah resident and will be a strong voice supporting the conservative movement and limited, constitutional government. He advocates cutting Planned Parenthood and overturning Roe v. Wade. He is also a proponent of cutting spending and balancing the budget. Among other priorities Meyers would eliminate the Department of Education, and end government spying on U.S. citizens.
    Meyers’ campaign material notes he is 100 percent in favor of gun owners rights, and against gun control. “I think 2nd amendment rights actually help public safety,” he asserted. “I’m an advocate for people and communities taking responsibility for themselves and I don’t believe gun control is a solution to safety issues. So I think the best thing an individual can do is plan for their own safety. If you’ve got children in school, you go talk to the school and find out what security measures they have.”
    On Tuesday, the same day political parties went to neighborhood caucus meetings, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Utah Republican Party’s lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 54. The bill allows candidates to gather signatures as a way to get on a ballot as an alternative to the caucus-convention route.
    Meyers was hoping for a different outcome. “I’ve never supported SB 54 – I would like to see it overturned. I supported the party’s lawsuit trying to fight it, and they may still choose to appeal to the Supreme Court,” he stated. He said he has been a long-time supporter of the caucus-convention system and that’s the system he’s going through to get on the ballot. “The reason I like it is because the candidates get vetted. It’s an accountability system.”
    Asked about Russia’s involvement in the Civil War in Syria, Meyers said American Foreign Policy and the military should be strong, but, “On the other hand I don’t think it’s our job as America to be settling every little dispute and jumping into military engagements all around the world. I’m not in favor of military interventions.”
    On immigration, Meyers said he supports what President Trump has done overall to stop illegal immigration. He said, “We’ve never secured the border, even when we’ve had Republicans in the White House. “So for me, it’s still secure the border – but I mean it – whether it’s building a wall, whether it’s giving more pay and better resources and more people to the Border Patrol, we’ve gotta do what we’ve gotta do.” He also advocates legal immigration reform, “to try to bring immigrants here that are for America, that are wanting to build up our country, instead of randomly coming here for whatever purpose.” Meyers opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants.
    On public lands issues, Meyers said he is a conservationist but not an environmentalist. He opined, “It’s just not right for the Federal Government to be owning and controlling this much land in the State of Utah and the other western states. So I think we need to find a way to try to bring control/ownership back to the states, or I say to the county, or to the degree we can to the private sector.”    
    With regard to the Bear’s Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, Meyers said, “I applaud Trump for cutting those back, making them more reasonable, smaller.” But he said the solution would be to get rid of the Antiquities Act and let Congress make those decisions in consultation with the states.”
    On the outlook for coal, Meyers said President Trump is moving in the right direction to bring back policies favorable for coal production. He said we need environmental protections that are necessary, but they shouldn’t be so restrictive that they prevent resource extraction like coal. “I support the mining industry and I think we need to have the Federal Government be the bare minimum regulations that are necessary to keep our air clean and keep our water clean, but beyond that, it shouldn’t be so burdensome that you can’t do business.”
    Nineteen candidates have filed for the office, but Meyers said, “Mitt Romney is the 800lb. gorilla that we’re dealing with here and I think I’m really well-suited to take him on. I’m a long-time Utah resident. I didn’t just move here a couple of years ago. I support President Trump and want to work with him. We all know what Romney has done in the past with regards to President Trump, and a lot of people have questions of what Romney’s future intentions are.”