Utah has joined the ranks of states that will take part in Super Tuesday and candidates from both sides are hoping they can find support in the Beehive State.
SALT LAKE CITY – There are seven candidates on the Republican ballot for Super Tuesday. Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld’s message to Utah voters is that a vote for him is not just a vote against President Trump.
“I’m asking them to vote for Bill Weld. I mean, I’m the only economic conservative in the Republican Party now; certainly the only one running for president,” Weld recently told KSL News Radio and the Deseret News editorial board.
But Weld has long eyed Utah as a place to help him challenge Trump for the nomination and feels his goal of fiscal prudence will resonate in the state.
“But after, you know, the regular trillion-dollar deficits in Washington, I’m not sure who any other economic conservative in the Republican Party would be,” Weld said.
Weld is one of many candidates who have not gained a lot of steam nationally, but are looking to Utah voters to energize their campaigns going into Super Tuesday.
On the Democratic side, billionaire Tom Steyer is pledging to halt oil and gas drilling on Utah’s national lands and is criticizing Trump’s handling of the environment.
“I believe that what he’s doing by reducing the National Monuments and really opening them up…for exploitation by large corporations and energy development is something I would stop immediately,” Steyer said.
Steyer says he also wants to launch the biggest jobs program in the country, mostly focusing on so-called green jobs.
Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard held several events over the weekend, including going snowboarding with supporters. Sunday’s event at Snowbird was similar to what she did in New Hampshire before their primary.
Pete Buttigieg supporters, including Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, were out canvassing neighborhoods this weekend.
But former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg’s office in Salt Lake City was vandalized over the weekend. Spokeswoman Catherine Sant Marr says they do not know who did it.
“It looks like about 50 rocks came through our office windows,” Sant Marr said.
The attack on Bloomberg’s office mirrored several throughout the country, but the campaign is still pushing forward to earn Utahns’s votes on Super Tuesday.