Jenny Wilson was the first woman elected to the Slat Lake City council. She’s also running to be the first woman Utah sends to the Senate.
Wilson is Mormon, and the daughter of Ted Wilson, who was mayor of Salt Lake City for ten years. Her father ran against Orrin Hatch a couple of times and for governor of Utah as well. There are clearly both advantages and disadvantages to a legacy candidate.
Wilson is definitely a centrist, perhaps even conservative Democrat. In her interview below, she talks about “entitlement reform”, fiscal responsibility and deficit spending for a while. She got over 60% of the delegates at Utah’s Democratic convention and avoided a primary against more progressive candidates in the Utah. On the other hands he’s also said if there are legal grounds to remove Trump, she would vote to impeach/convict Trump. She also notes that in 2016, Bernie Sanders won 80% of the Utah caucus votes and that there’s a strong progressive streak in the state.
Wilson is good on immigration, LGBTQ rights, is pro-choice, wants to expand the ACA. She works hard to tie in her politics with the teachings of the LDS church, highlighting its focus on compassion and how that informs her politics, especially with respect to immigration.
2018 is though, first and foremost, about gaining control of Congress to serve as a check on Trump. So one of the best reasons to support Jenny Wilson is who she’s running against.
We know with absolute certainty that even Republicans Trump has repeatedly insulted, like Cruz, Romney and Rubio, will not serve as a check on him.
When Wilson first announced, the expectation was that she would run against Orrin Hatch, a seven term incumbent. He’s literally been in the Senate my entire existence. Then in January, Hatch announced he would retire. Doubtless there’s some sordid scandal which has been kept under wraps for years and will be revealed right after Hatch retires.
In any case, this is where Mitt “Binders Full of Women” Romney comes in. The Utah Republican party decided Orrin Hatch, an 84 year old man who had spent literally half his life occupying a Senate seat, should be replaced with a fresher face. So they chose 71 year old Mitt Romney. You literally can’t make this stuff up. Three cheers for generational change?
Mitt Romney is a former “Never Trump” person. He said things like this about Donald Trump:
“Dishonesty is Donald Trump’s hallmark.”
“He’s playing the members of the American public for suckers.”
“Very, very not smart.” — www.nytimes.com/...
Then he decided to run for Senate, and since he’s a Republican, principle went out the window. Romney prostrated himself before the orange one. I guess it’s #NeverTrump till you need something from Trump.
Wilson faces an steep uphill climb in deep-red Utah. But who knows, we may be surprised. She is 20 years younger than Romney (who’s 71) and Utah voters may decide they’d rather have a Democrat representing them for a couple of decades, rather than a one or two term Republican who won’t ever accrue much seniority in the Senate.
Overall, she’s a good candidate for Utah. You can donate to Wilson’s campaign, or volunteer if you’re local.
The long, friendly interview below is a good introduction to her and her politics.
— @subirgrewal