Meet the candidates in the running for Utah governor

The Utah Statesman sent out emails requesting interviews to all candidates. Those who responded did so through email.

Spencer Cox

The candidate did not respond to The Utah Statesman’s request for an interview.

Tommy Williams

The candidate did not respond to The Utah Statesman’s request for an interview.

Brian King 

What is your response to students who have voiced their concerns over House Bill 0261, which went into effect in Utah on July 1, 2024? If you are unsure what those concerns are you can find them in previous coverage done by the Utah Statesman, linked here and here. 

In the House of Representatives, I strongly opposed the anti-DEI initiatives, which are nothing more than unnecessary, divisive political games. Rather than targeting marginalized communities and wasting time and resources on culture war battles, our leaders should be addressing the real issues that are facing Utahns of all backgrounds: housing affordability, increasing cost of living, public education, clean air and water, and more. We need policies that reflect the incredible diversity of our state and recognize the benefits to our quality of life that it brings. As governor, I’ll champion inclusivity and opportunity for all Utahns, regardless of background.  

With Utah being a country-wide leader with one of the highest population percentages enrolled in higher education, how would you go about representing the 240,000 students enrolled in one of Utah’s many higher education institutions? 

We are very fortunate to have so many quality higher education institutions in Utah. As governor, I would prioritize strengthening Utah’s higher education system by increasing access to affordable education, supporting workforce development programs, and ensuring that institutions are equipped to prepare students for the evolving job market. 

Are you a Utah Native? What’s your favorite aspect of living in Utah currently? 

As a fifth-generation Utahn, I was born in Salt Lake City into a family with deep pioneer roots. My favorite aspect of living in Utah is our amazing and abundant natural resources. From our mountains, to our valleys, to our red rock cliffs, our rivers, and our lakes, there is so much to love about Utah. We need to do everything we can to be responsible stewards of our environment so that our kids and grandkids can benefit from it just as much as we have. 

If you had chosen a sport to have played in college, what would it have been? If you did play a college sport, please share why that one.

Although I didn’t play a sport in college, if I could go back, I would choose to play baseball. After my first year of undergrad, I had the privilege of serving an LDS mission to St. Louis, which converted me into a Cardinals fan! I am excited and optimistic about the prospects of an MLB team coming to Utah, and can’t wait to change my allegiance! 

J. Robert Latham

What is your response to students who have voiced their concerns over House Bill 0261, which went into effect in Utah on July 1, 2024? If you are unsure what those concerns are you can find them in previous coverage done by the Utah Statesman, linked here and here.  

Color me impressed by some of the insightful views expressed by USU students about the Orwellian-titled “Equal Opportunity Initiatives” House Bill 261 co-sponsored by state representative Katy Hall (running unopposed this election) and state senator Keith Grover (also running unopposed this election).  

Because the two-party system is not a broken system, but a system that needs to be broken, Libertarians have also experienced exclusionary practices from government-run and -sponsored entities structured to protect and preserve patriarchal power and privilege.  

Ideally, most Libertarians prefer the separation of education and state, and the dispute over whether a taxpayer-supported institution of higher education should promote diversity, equity, and inclusion illustrates one reason why. Whenever one hitches one’s cause to the state wagon, everyone gets taken along for the ride. Because they are largely free of the constitutional constraints that apply to state-run schools, proprietary schools have more flexibility as to policies they can implement to recruit faculty and staff members who can adequately prepare their students to engage with the broader global community. 

Realistically, separating school and state is not going to happen in the foreseeable future. Until more of our fellow citizens effectively “underthrow” incumbent institutions by walking away from them in sufficient numbers, DEI initiatives may be an appropriate remedy to legacy discriminatory practices. These practices, along with ongoing nepotism and cronyism, continue to manifest at politically populated institutions like USU and elsewhere, as exemplified by who continues to wield and benefit from decision-making authority and who does not.    

In the meantime, USU students, staff, and faculty can help grow the liberty vote in Utah by voting Libertarian, and being a Libertarian candidate in future elections. 

And I encourage students who may have experienced censorship through government action to become familiar with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the Institute for Free Speech.  

With Utah being a country-wide leader with one of the highest population percentages enrolled in higher education, how would you go about representing the 240,000 students enrolled in one of Utah’s many higher education institutions? 

In his book Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us, author Brian Klaas notes how those with dark triad personality traits attain and retain positions of power at a disproportionate rate. 

Two corrective measures proposed by Klaas are democratic lotteries (also known as “sortition,” “policy juries,” or “democracy without elections”) and shadow governments (also known as “dual sovereignty” or “parallel government”).    

One person cannot truly “represent” the interests of anyone, perhaps not even oneself. Therefore, if the people of Utah put me to work as the next governor of the state of Utah, I propose using a mix of proportional ranked choice voting and sortition to populate an advisory council of Utah students enrolled in higher education to facilitate more fulsome conversation. Student leaders who advance these initiatives in their own communities can hasten the day where the potential of every living being is optimized because the conditions to flourish have been universalized. 

Are you a Utah Native? What’s your favorite aspect of living in Utah currently? 

Born and raised in Utah, my favorite aspect of living here is working for the betterment of our unique community — which is in an amazing natural setting — by advancing the cause of liberty through the “Party of Free Agency.”   

If you had chosen a sport to have played in college, what would it have been? If you did play a college sport, please share why that one.

During college I enjoyed refereeing intramural flag football, and later refereeing club- and college-level women’s lacrosse. If provided the opportunity in college, I would have chosen to participate in collegiate esports because — given that the first officially recognized varsity esports program was established in 2014, and I graduated college in 1991 — time-travel is implied, which as Bill, Ted, and H.G. Wells can tell you is a far more interesting prospect than collegiate sport. 

Tom Tomeny

The candidate did not respond to The Utah Statesman’s request for an interview.