Name: She Invited People to GOP Caucus Nights as a Teenager. Now, Christine Heath Is Running for the Legislature With the United Utah Party | by Rhett Wilkinson | Extra Newsfeed
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She Invited People to GOP Caucus Nights as a Teenager. Now, Christine Heath Is Running for the Legislature With the United Utah Party | by Rhett Wilkinson | Extra Newsfeed

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Published inThere are more candidates running with the United Utah Party in Utah County for the state legislature than there are Democrats in Utah County seeking state legislative seats.You might say that the UUP is a thing.And, while the UUP candidates are mostly men, there are women UUP candidates seeking elected positions, too.Five are running for the state legislature: Christine Heath, Catherine Eslinger, Emily O’Hara Bergeson, Piper Manesse and Kate Walters.This is Heath’s story.Christine HeathHeath grew up in north Orem, where she was raised by a father who was very involved in politics at the local level. He was often a precinct chair for the Utah Republican Party. She remembers inviting folks to GOP caucus nights when she was 17 years old.Heath began to be increasingly worried about “extremes” that the Republican Party was taking. She was worried about the GOP saying that someone needed to agree with everything on their platform or to not talk to them.Then Heath saw that the UUP believed in campaign finance reform. She became a UUP legislative chair and then the interim Utah County party chair.Heath works for LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Heath also does “a lot” of volunteer work, serving with Circles of Utah Valley, an initiative to help families move out of poverty, and the Food and Care Coalition, a homeless shelter, every third Sunday. As a candidate, Heath has been fundraising, advertising, and “getting the word out.”Heath remembers hearing a Utah representative say it doesn’t matter that his constituents are upset because he will be elected anyway. She also pointed out that the Democratic Party dominates Salt Lake and Summit counties.“The one-party system that we have right now is very destructive to our democracy,” Heath said. “In the 80s, way back when, Utah was in the top 5 for voter engagement, and now our place is 35th in the nation for voter engagement.”Competition in the state is needed, and because Utah doesn’t have competition, the state is “going downhill, at least in terms of voter participation,” Heath said.“(It) starts out with (the) check of we the people,” Heath said.One of the nice things about the UUP is that it takes a “moderate approach.” A Qualtrics survey shows that 51% of Utahns favor moderates, Heath said.“It will take time to do it, but we do have the chance to become the major party in Utah,” Heath said.As a legislator, as she supports the platform of the UUP, she would like to see term limits, campaign finance reform and more ranked-choice voting.“I’d like every election to use ranked-choice voting,” Heath said.Heath doesn’t like that candidates accept money from political action committees and wants citizens to have the opportunity to invest in the “money election” that precedes the general election.The Salt Lake Tribune reported that 93.5% of the contributions to the Utah state legislature candidates come from special interest groups, Heath said.“That can create a conflict of interest for our representatives,” Heath said, noting that it can beg this question: “Do you support your donors or do you support your constituents?”It can be overwhelming when you look at the problems that we have with government, Heath said.“Changes can be made at the local level and at the state level … and (later) at the national level,” Health then said, noting that the UUP is seeking to do its part with reforms “so we can bring the government back to the people.”Heath also added that the UUP has more candidates than all other third parties combined in Utah.the same political rants you see on Facebook, but they're well written.ininininRhett has won 13 journalism awards over 5 years of applying for them. Formerly of B/R, Screen Rant and Patch. He’s also been a successful pro se litigant.

Published inThere are more candidates running with the United Utah Party in Utah County for the state legislature than there are Democrats in Utah County seeking state legislative seats.You might say that the UUP is a thing.And, while the UUP candidates are mostly men, there are women UUP candidates seeking elected positions, too.Five are running for the state legislature: Christine Heath, Catherine Eslinger, Emily O’Hara Bergeson, Piper Manesse and Kate Walters.This is Heath’s story.Christine HeathHeath grew up in north Orem, where she was raised by a father who was very involved in...

She Invited People to GOP Caucus Nights as a Teenager. Now, Christine Heath Is Running for the Legislature With the United Utah Party | by Rhett Wilkinson | Extra Newsfeed

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