Gov. Herbert visits Manti High, Barclay Mechanical
Matt Harris
Staff writer
10-20-2016
MANTI— Utah State Governor Gary Herbert made stops in Manti City as part of his re-election campaign trail, accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox and U.S. Congressman Chris Stewart, last Thursday.
Herbert, who is running for re-election in November, spoke in assembly to the entire Manti High School (MHS) student body with his campaign staff, then crossed town to visit Barclay Mechanical. The visits were part of Herbert’s efforts to reach out to two of his largest priorities in his campaign platform, education and job creation.
Herbert has campaigned more aggressively than many of his predecessors, who were more prone to see Republican election as a given. “Even though he’s very popular and does a good job,” Stewart said, “he doesn’t take it for granted. He’s willing to go out and do the work. It’s an unpredictable year for us as well.” Herbert’s primary opponent is Mike Weinholz, a Democrat, during this race.
Herbert made his first stop at MHS, where he met up with Stewart and Cox. He spoke personally with the student body officers and openly communicated with them and others about his hopes for Utah and the country as a whole.
“We are doing good things in Utah,” Herbert said. “We are becoming the gold standard of governments, of society, of culture. We are still a state that has good principles and values that many in our country have forgotten, and that’s really the secret of our success is people, great people, and the rising generation which are preparing themselves appropriately to take on a leadership role.
“I have never been more excited about Utah today, but I am concerned about the direction the country is going. Utah itself is in a very, very good position.”
As Herbert entered MHS, he almost immediately brought the student body officers’ attention to the painting that dons the entrance to the school, Arnold Friberg’s famous depiction of George Washington praying at Valley Forge, sharing with the group his deep love and understanding of the meaning behind the painting.
Herbert and company received a warm welcome from the Manti student body, some of whom prepared questions for them. Herbert, Cox, and Stewart graciously answered all questions posed to them during the assembly. “All of our high schools, all of our students are important,” Herbert says. “I’m very much concerned that we are doing all that we can to prepare our young people to be the leaders of tomorrow. They need to understand our history and our Constitution.”
Following the school visit, Herbert visited the local Manti-grown business Barclay Mechanical, run by the three Barclay brothers. Barclay Mechanical has experienced recent business success in rural Utah, and it caught the attention of Herbert. Scott and Mike Barclay led a closed conference with the governor about plans to grow rural Utah businesses through trade schools to create jobs in the state.
“He wanted to know what our concerns are,” Scott said. “We’re extremely grateful to have [Herbert] here. It means a lot to me that he’s willing to come to a small place like this despite the big companies he’s trying to bring into Utah.”
Herbert’s campaign trail goes all over Utah. Information about the campaign can be found at garyherbert.com.
