What an exciting year we have ahead!  Sixteen Democratic candidates from Utah County will be on the November ballot.  By contrast, there were 13 candidates in 2008.  We have candidates running for the county commission, the state house, the state senate, and Congress.  I am pleased that so many good people from Utah County have stepped forward to make a difference in county, state, and federal government.  

These Utah County Democrats cover nearly every house district, every Senate district, both county commission seats up this year, and the 3rd District Congressional seat.  We'll be running aggressive campaigns across the county.  Let me introduce our county wide candidates.

Karen Hyer is running for the 3rd District Congressional seat currently held by Jason Chaffetz.  Karen is a former rancher, business consultant, and university professor.   She is not a career politician.  She's a citizen who has become fed up with partisan gridlock and the antics of our current member of Congress.  Unlike her opponent, she has the maturity and experience to be a member of Congress.  She represents Utah County values of hard work (not showmanship), reasonableness (not extremism), bipartisanship (not shrill partisanship), and action (not rhetoric).

Ted Barratt is running for the County Commission.  Ted is a long time realtor in the county and a former mayor of American Fork.  Also running for the county commission is Lane Henderson.  Lane is the former mayor of Salem and former publisher of a south county weekly newspaper.  These two are well qualified public servants who deserve to be on the county commission.

Here are the other candidates and their respective races, as well as little bit about them:

Senate District 11 (north county) - Dave Hogue, former state representative
Senate District 15 (Orem and west Provo) - Linnea Barney, former state school board member
House District 27 - (Alpine, Highland, and American Fork) - Jenn Payne, elementary school teacher
House District 56 - (Lehi, American Fork, Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs) - Lori Bonner, local author and teacher
House District 57 - (Pleasant Grove and Cedar Hills) - Jim Crismon, retired state government employee
House District 58 - (northeast Orem and Lindon) - Steve Baugh, former Alpine School Superintendent and 2008 legislative candidate
House District 59 - (northwest Orem) - Jim Greer, local sales representative and small businessman
House District 60 - (south Orem) - Alan Keele, retired BYU professor
House District 61 - (west Provo) - Deon Turley, former Provo Council PTA president and 2008 legislative candidate
House District 62 - (north Provo) - Mark Peterson, BYU professor and former Provo Neighborhood Chair
House District 63 - (east Provo) - Don Jarvis, retired BYU professor and 2008 legislative candidate
House District 64 - (south Provo, Springville) - Hal Miller, BYU professor and president of the Utah National Parks Boy Scouts of America Council
House District 67 - (Payson, Santaquin, Genola, Elberta, Goshen) - Scott Parkin, technical writer

These candidates will be attending the caucus meetings this Tuesday at 7 pm.

Caucus meeting locations are provided on the website.  Come meet your candidate.  Make a difference this year!