Name: Meet Catherine Eslinger: Former Mormon Women for Ethical Government Leader, Former Teacher at BYU Now Running for Utah Legislature | by Rhett Wilkinson | Extra Newsfeed
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Meet Catherine Eslinger: Former Mormon Women for Ethical Government Leader, Former Teacher at BYU Now Running for Utah Legislature | 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: Catherine Eslinger, Emily O’Hara Bergeson, Christine Heath, Piper Manesse and Kate Walters.This is Esligner’s story.Catherine EslingerEslinger taught English as a second language at Brigham Young University for “a number of years” and worked on a project in China with the U.S. Agency for International Development. She is a parent of four young children and has been a citizen advocate for various policies at the state level for three years.“(It) seems that you can have the most impact at the state level,” Eslinger said.Until March, Eslinger was the Utah Chapter co-lead of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, which gave Eslinger a foundation of how the legislature works.MWEG gave Eslinger access to people who can mentor her and the confidence to feel like she could make a difference, she said.“We planned a lot of different events … a lot of voter registration events,” Eslinger said.MWEG has also administered voter education to women in particular, helping women become educated about their local, state and national issues so that they could then educate their circles, Eslinger said.“(It’s) very grassroots efforts of helping women to step into a role … in a political way,” Eslinger said. “We are bringing the men along as well, but (are) empowering women to do these things.”Eslinger has “found it so wonderful to be in a group of women who want to make a difference in a community in that way,’ she said.Running for office “parallels between (her) involvement with MWEG,” Eslinger said.Eslinger has also taught English to foreign judges. She did that until she discovered that she was pregnant with twins.“I reorganized m priorities,” Eslinger said.“(I) enjoyed teaching,” Eslinger said. “It was a really wonderful experience. … I was teaching … respect for educators of our children and youth, too.”Eslinger was introduced to the UUP through MWEG. As a member of MWEG, Eslinger was invited to participate in the press conference that introduced the UUP to Utah.“(I) feel like there is a place for that moderate representation in Utah,” Eslinger said. “There’s a need for it.”As a legislator, Eslinger “would really like to be responsive to voters.”“A lot of us feel like what happens at the capitol is very remote from what we know is happening in our own communities,” Eslinger said, stating that if you send an email to your representative, you “don’t hear back very often.”If Eslinger speaks to legislators during floor time, she gets “sort of a dismissive answer,” she said.“I really believe that the government is us,” Eslinger said.Eslinger also wants to “focus on reforms that would outlast any sort of term (she) would serve.”She would want expansion of ranked-choice voting; campaign finance reform; independent redistricting; and “representation” where constituents can “participate in a really substantive way.”Eslinger acknowledges that “a lot of people say that a third party can never win.”“I would like to tell people that your vote does really make a difference,” Eslinger said, noting that she can win with a lot of demographics and that “young people (are) viewing the world in a different way than their parents and grandparents did.”Eslinger also pointed out that in the primary race in Utah House District 48, the primary challenger was only down by 54 votes.“The races can really be decided by a small margin,” Eslinger said.Eslinger also noted that since her Utah House District 59 was drawn in 2011, her town of Vineyard, Utah has grown from 200 people to 10,000.“The district has changed radically since it was created,” Eslinger said. “There is a lot of change happening.”the same political rants you see on Facebook, but they're well written.ininRhett 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: Catherine Eslinger, Emily O’Hara Bergeson, Christine Heath, Piper Manesse and Kate Walters.This is Esligner’s story.Catherine EslingerEslinger taught English as a second language at Brigham Young University for “a number...

Meet Catherine Eslinger: Former Mormon Women for Ethical Government Leader, Former Teacher at BYU Now Running for Utah Legislature | by Rhett Wilkinson | Extra Newsfeed

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