(KCPW News) Eight Republican leaders from across Salt Lake County are throwing their support behind State Senator Ben McAdams, the Democratic nominee for County Mayor. This morning, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, Salt Lake City Councilman Carlton Christensen and others announced the formation of a group called “Republicans for Ben McAdams.” The group was created by Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall, who was supporting Mike Winder’s campaign until he was eliminated in the GOP primary election.
“I supported Mike, and I told Ben that if Mike didn’t make it out of the primary, he was my second choice, because like Mike, he is a moderate, and he listens to both sides of an issue and he works well with Republicans and Democrats and that’s what we need,” Wall says.
McAdams held his news conference on a median in the middle of the road in Murray to symbolize his commitment to meet in the center to advance policy. He says working with both sides will become increasingly important in coming years as the Salt Lake Valley continues to grow.
“The population in Salt Lake County is expected to double in the next 20 or 30 years, so we really are making decisions now about what our community will look like in 20 years, and there are going to be competing values and competing discussions about what we want our county to look like. So, what we need is someone with the temperament to really bring people together to advance the visions for the 16 cities that exist in Salt Lake County,” says McAdams.
McAdams will face former Salt Lake County Councilman Mark Crockett, the Republican nominee, in the November election. Crockett tells KCPW he’s not surprised to see McAdams has Republican supporters because the important county issues are non-partisan, adding that his own campaign has bipartisan support as well.
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