A Utah senator’s decision not to seek another term at the Legislature, a Carbon commissioner’s resignation and officials opting to give up or try for different government seats prompted a large number of filings for the November election.
The election results will change Carbon County’s representation on everything from the state senate to the school board.
Last November, Carbon Commissioner Steve Burge announced he would vacate his seat on the county government because he was moving to Salt Lake to take a job. Then a couple of weeks ago, Senator Mike Dmitrich announced that, after spending 40 years on Capitol Hill, he would not run for re-election.
Almost immediately, Dmitrich’s move began to shake up the order of things in the area. Within a day, Utah Rep. Brad King announced he had filed for Dmitrich’s seat. King’s decision left his Utah House of Representatives seat open to all comers.
Consequently, local voters will have different names to choose from on the 2008 ballot.
Right now, there are more than half a dozen candidates filing for some of the open offices at the state and county level.
However, voters will not have all of the names to pick from in November because the county caucuses and state party conventions will pare the numbers down in the next few weeks.
At the local level, candidates filing for the Utah Senate District 27 position include King, a Democrat from Price; David Hinkins a Republican from Orangeville; Richard Moss, a Republican from Spanish Fork; and Robert J. Armstrong, a Constitution Party contender from Spanish Fork.
In the Utah House of Representatives District 67, the candidates include incumbent Patrick Painter, a Republican from Mona; and Feleni Siufanua, a Democrat from Payson. District 67 represents the western portion of Carbon County.
A number of candidates from Price have filed to run in the Utah House District 69 race, including Republican Jerry B. Anderson, Democrat Kay Colosimo, Democrat Christine Watkins and Democrat Grady McEvoy.
McEvoy’s entry into the state race brings about an opening on the Carbon County Board of Education, where he has served for several years.
In 2008, there are two county commission seats open, the one Burge vacated and the one currently occupied by Democrat Mike Milovich of Price.
Milovich’s bid for re-election to the county commission will be challenged by Jae Potter, a Republican from Price, and Douglas Trease, a Democrat from Price.
The seat vacated by Burge for the county commissioner/surveyor position has six candidates vying for the job.
Democratic candidates include Neil Breinholt from Price, Mikel Johnson from Price, John Jones from Helper, Kenji Otani from Helper and Robert Welch from Helper. Gerald Lloyd of Price is running for the seat as a Republican.
In the district one school board race, Barry Deeter is running unopposed in Helper.
In the district two school board seat representing south Price and Carbonville, incumbent Debra Blackburn will be opposed by Maurine Tanner.
The district three central Price board of education seat vacated by McEvoy is being sought by one candidate, Jeffrey Richens.
At the federal level, Congressman Jim Matheson’s seat is up for grabs.
Candidates filing for the United States House of Representatives District 2 position are Matheson, a Democrat from Salt Lake, and six Republicans along with one Libertarian and one Constitution Party challenger.
The Republicans challeging Matheson’s bid for re-election include Brian Jenkins, Chris Jacobs, Merrill Cook, Kenneth Gray, Bill Dew and Donald Ferguson. Mathew Arndt from the Libertarian Party and Dennis Ray Emery from the Constitution party also filed for the congressional seat.
For the governor’s office, incumbent Republican Jon Huntsman has filed a bid for re-election. Huntsman will be challenged by Democrat Matt Frandsen from Bountiful, Democrat Bob Springmeyer from Salt Lake, Republican Charles Smith from Farmington and Libertarian Dell Schaze from Sandy.
Two candidates are running for the lieutenant governor’s office. Incumbent Republican Gary Herbert from Orem will be opposed by Democrat James Sander from Bountiful.
The state attorney general’s office race has three candidates, Republican incumbent Mark Shurtleff from Sandy, Democrat Jean Welch Hill from Holladay and Libertarian W. Andrew McCollough from Lehi
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