|
Sentinel News Staff Although Straw Polls have no binding power, the results of a straw poll taken at the Weber County Convention on April 10th, the purpose of which according to Matt Bell, Weber County Republican Party Chairman was “just to get a feel for what the Delegates are thinking in Weber county”, shows Mike Lee is running ahead of all seven Republican challengers for Utah’s 2010 U.S. Senate election. Lee received 32% of the vote, Cherilyn Eagar garnered 28%, Robert Bennett the incumbent drew 23%, and the rest of the field took 10% or less. David Chiu, Republican candidate for Senate did not attend the Weber County Convention.
As the campaigning continues, the field seems to be narrowing. Another straw poll held after a “unique ten-candidate, multi-party” debate sponsored by the Utah Valley University Student Association, resulted in somewhat similar results except that “Mike Lee outpaced the entire field with 49.4% of the vote, Cherilyn Eagar was second with 16.6%, followed by Tim Bridgewater at 16.3%, Scott Bradley at 7.3%, Senator Bob Bennett at 6.7%, Merrill Cook at 1.9%, Christopher Stout 1%, Leonard Fabiano .5%, Jeremy Friedbaum .3%, and David Chiu 0%.” Note: these results are according to a report from the Mike Lee Campaign.
After campaigning at the Morgan County Convention, Senate Candidate Lee spoke to a packed meeting of the Weber County 9-12 Project for over 2 hours. In describing why he is running, Lee said he believes government is too big and needs to be reduced. He said we notice things that are swollen. For example, when our ankle is swollen, we really notice it. He said our government has our country heading in the wrong direction right now, like heading towards a cliff. He sees Congress pushing on the accelerator when they should be pushing on the brake. One of the practical ideas he has is to restrain our nation’s current out of control spending by instituting a Balanced Budget Amendment.
One of the many questions asked by conservatives in the audience had to do with ethics. Mike said that ethics require having transparency, review processes, and accountability.
Utah Rep. Carl Wimmer says of Lee: “Mike Lee is a principled conservative who has a reverence for the founding principles of our country. On principle, he is second to none.”
Patrick Henry Caucus Co-Founder endorsed Mike Lee for U.S. Senate along with the following public officials in the Sentinel News coverage area: Utah Senator Allen Christensen, Utah Representative Kerry Gibson, and Utah Representative Ryan Wilcox.
Mike Lee has been a law clerk for sitting Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito – a conservative, and stated that as a lawyer, he is currently defending the interests of Uintah Basin Residents who feel their mineral rights have been usurped by the Federal Government. Also, Mike is willing to speak the truth to powerful people, like he did to a liberal Supreme Court Justice concerning his opposition to abortion.
Brent Odenwalder, a conservative republican county delegate who proposed a resolution in the County convention stated: “The only way to distinguish candidates is by deed, and not by word. Tell me what he (Mike Lee) has done ("By their fruits ye shall know them"). Otherwise it is nothing more than hot air. I don't believe he has done anything consistent with the founding fathers (except say he believes in the constitution). If you can show me his deeds that prove otherwise I'd be interested.”
The State Republican Nominating Convention is May 8, 2010. The Sentinel News will publish the State Convention voting results on its website (http://www.sentinelnews.net) the evening of May 8th. |