Salt Lake Tribune, October 27, 2008
Tribune Editorial

Sen. Curtis Bramble personifies what is wrong with one-party government. As majority leader of the Senate, Bramble has used his position to ham-handedly push through an unpopular voucher law and an omnibus education bill that the state must now defend in court.

Bramble's reputation for bullying, his propensity for back-door deals and his casual dismissal of a yearslong public demand for ethics reform are more than sufficient reason to remove him from the Utah Legislature. Voters in Senate District 16 have a chance to do that on Nov. 4.

As part of the all-powerful Republican legislative leadership, Bramble too often turns a deaf ear to the majority of Utahns and puts the arm on legislators who disagree with him.

The hugely unpopular voucher law, which Bramble sponsored, passed by a single vote and later was overturned by a citizen referendum. Bramble and others fought the referendum publicly and with backdoor maneuvering. Public opinion, he told The Tribune Editorial Board, is only one consideration when he's legislating. A rather unimportant consideration, it appears.

He gave the same consideration to his colleagues when he and other Republican leaders crafted Senate Bill 2, an omnibus education bill that included three individual pieces of legislation that had already been defeated in the House or Senate. The constitutionality of that bill is being challenged, and several legislators are among the plaintiffs.

RaDene Hatfield, Bramble's Democratic opponent, is running for the first time. She has a master of public policy degree, is a community volunteer and, while a student, was an intern for former Republican Sen. Jake Garn and research assistant at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, Minneapolis.

She supports ethics reform, including a gift ban, limits on campaign donations and an independent ethics committee. Bramble downplays the importance of lobbyist gifts and says there is no way to set a clear and objective standard for conflicts of interest. So he does nothing about the ethical cesspool in the Legislature that has only grown under his watch.

Bramble takes credit for unprecedented education funding and a renewable-energy standard. But Utah teachers remain underpaid, and there is still no mandate for utility companies to develop renewable energy.

We believe Hatfield would bring openness, civility and accountability to the office and endorse her candidacy.