State House 5 candidate: Cary Youmans
Q: What makes you stand out from other candidates and why should people vote for you?
A: What makes me stand out is the fact that I’m a write-in, and I’m unaffiliated partisan-wise. Why they should vote for me, it depends. My candidacy, and I’m calling it a candidacy and not a campaign because a campaign is like trying to defeat and win, and A) I don’t want to defeat anyone, and B) I don’t really have a chance of winning because of the political climate, that’s just not an option. So my goal is merely to give voters a choice in this election, so that’s the only reason that I put my name out there and register as a write-in candidate. If people wish to research that they really want to consider voting for me, they can look up my Facebook website. Why should they vote for me? The point of it is if there are any voters in Utah House District 5 like me who simply are not found to vote for Republicans for what ideological or moral or ethical grounds, they have a choice to do something for that. The only other candidate was an unopposed Republican incumbent.
Q: If you aren’t elected, how will you still be involved and serve the community?
A: The intent is to be as involved legislatively as I can to keep myself informed of the issues. I’ve been thinking a lot about that fine line between you present yourself — and if I should win, I’m going to assume those informed voters agree with the positions that I’ve communicated and so I have their consent, their approval. At the same time, I’m not going to totally exclude those who have different points of view. I’ve been subject to that myself, writing my elected representatives. Although I can’t guarantee they will change my position, I’m going to be attentive to possible pitfalls or potential detriments to their lives and livelihoods that I could not simply anticipate beforehand being fully informed.
Q: What do you think is the most important responsibility of the position you’re running for, and how will you do your best to manage that?
A: There are so many issues facing Utahns right now. I think the primary issues have to do with climate change. We’ve heard recently a lot about the water shortage and drought. The economy seems to be going okay, but certainly that needs to be monitored. It comes down to quality of life, and state legislation has a direct impact on quality of life, so I see my primary function being an informed representative and voting on and advocating for those policies and legislation that promotes quality of life for Utahns. Unilaterally, not for this one group of Utahns, not for that one group of Utahns, but for all Utahns or as many as can be included in sensible, sane legislature. How will I manage that responsibility? That’s a good question. There’s just me, so if I were to be elected, in that bizarre, off chance, I would be looking for quality organization people. I’d certainly be reaching out to, say, the political science majors, see if there’s a student who is wanting to do an internship; partner with faculty, people like that, those with the experience or if nothing else, the book learning that I don’t have on how to manage effectively a legislative office.
Q: What do you hope to change or accomplish if you are elected?
A: I’d love to be a part of beginning the shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels in the state of Utah. That’s a really high priority to me. I’m really invested and committed to protecting women from the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. I think we’re fortunate in that we have some pretty sensible legislation in comparison to other states, but we can’t be sure it’s going to stay that way, and so I’m going to be committed to not letting it get any worse, let alone if we can pull it back some, then certainly going for that as well.
Q: If you could be any character from a movie who would you be?
A: There’s so many. I’ve always had a thing for wizards, so probably Gandalf the Grey. The White was awesome— yeah, he was higher ranking and all that, but I loved Gandalf the Grey’s humanity, his connection with the Hobbit and just living life and enjoying life, but still he saw how he belonged and how we all belong and how there was an evil out there that we have to pay attention to and be ready to defend against and eliminate.
-LeiLoniDePew@usu.edu
Featured photo by Kate Smith