Rep. Petersen comes out of convention in strong position
The voting results at the Republicans’ Cache County 2022 Nominating Convention on Saturday showed a strong favor towards Mike Petersen over his fellow candidate Val Potter in the District 2 election for the Utah House of Representatives.
Petersen, who is the incumbent, beat Potter in the 2020 election. Potter had held the position from the beginning of 2017.
At the convention, Petersen received 63.1% of the vote while Potter received 36.9%. According to the voting rules of the convention, if a candidate received 70% of the vote, they would become the Republican Party’s candidate for the position.
Potter believed that Petersen’s advantage was due to him being a more extreme candidate.
“The results from the convention show that the majority of the delegates seemed to want a legislator with extreme views on state government,” Potter said. “They liked that he voted no on more bills than all other House members and that he was not supportive of most state government operations.”
Potter said he is passionate about improving law enforcement in Cache County, as he believes that public safety is the most important responsibility of elected officials. He also wants to ensure that parents are involved in their children’s education.
“Not only do I talk about improving Cache County, but I have passed 14 bills that specifically improve our county and state in the areas I am passionate about,” Potter said. “I have worked to cut state code and improve our county as a state legislator. My opponent has not proven in two years that he is interested in doing that.”
Petersen wasn’t surprised with the results of the convention.
“Having spoken with many delegates prior to the convention, we weren’t surprised that our message resonated with the vast majority of them,” Petersen said. “We have great momentum to carry into the primary and we’re going to keep moving forward with our message of limited government, fewer taxes, protection of property rights, personal responsibility, and other conservative principles.”
According to Petersen, the issues he feels most strongly about are reducing the size of government, reducing taxes, protecting property rights, supporting parental rights, and advocating for personal responsibility.
“Residents should vote for me because I kept the promises I made throughout my campaign,” Petersen said. “I am a principled conservative and proud to have a capital R next to my name.”