Republican hopes to take on

Ben McAdams in November

 

By Robert Stevens

Managing editor

6-11-2020

 

Kim Coleman is running for congress against Ben McAdams and she has a laundry list of reasons why she is the right person for the job.

Coleman, a Republican from West Jordan who has been serving the Utah House of Representatives District 42 since 2015, says her long-standing conservative ideals are at the core of her campaign for Congressional District 4.

“I really have stuck by my conservative principles,” Coleman says. “Even when my arms have been twisted and my heartstrings have been tugged on, I stick to my principles.”

According to Coleman, she is the only NRA-endorsed candidate in the running, as well as the only candidate endorsed as pro-life by the Susan B. Anthony List candidate fund. She also is a staunch supporter of first and second amendment rights.

Coleman is running against democrat incumbent Ben McAdams in an effort to return those principles to the district, and better represent the folks at home.

“We outsourced our representation to Ben McAdams in 2018,” Coleman says. “He doesn’t live here; he isn’t part of this community and he couldn’t vote for himself if he wanted to.”

Coleman says she has gotten plenty of input from Sanpete citizens during her campaign trips to this area, as well as other rural areas. The feedback she has received during those trips has told her that rural citizens are worried about being passed by in priority to the bigger areas, such as the Wasatch Front.

“People just don’t want to feel like they’ve been overlooked or forgotten,” she says. “Across the board everyone is concerned about economy, but rural communities have unique challenges. Lack of infrastructure, lack of water availability, rural economic development. Not to mention the decades long concern that the next generation won’t want to stay in the area.”

Coleman says she already has a record of standing up for rural conservative values, and endorsements such as the one from Sanpete County Commissioner Steve Lund (and more than a dozen other rural elected officials) go a long way to illustrate that.

Coleman says she places high value on what rural Utah offers to the rest of the state.

“Rural Utah isn’t that far away from the Wasatch Front, but it is extremely critical to all of us,” she says. “We all depend on agriculture too much, but not everyone on the Wasatch Front understand that.”

Showing up for her constituents is just something she makes a habit of, Coleman says, no matter how small. She already has a record of representing a small area of Herriman, Utah, despite it being only a small portion of who she represents.

“I have gone to bat for Herriman,” she says. “When they asked me to show up, I was there. Only four people organizing in a library? I was there. A thousand people organizing in a gym, I was there. Herriman is never going to make a difference in a reelection. But they’re every bit as important to me as West Jordan.”

Coleman also says she is proud of her LDS faith, and isn’t afraid to reference it on the campaign trail, unlike some others running for office. Coleman converted to the LDS religion at the age of 19, and ultimately went on to serve a mission in Boston.

“My faith informs me, my faith sustains me,” she says. “I don’t find conflicts between church and state. I know where those divide. I know where they enhance each other.”

Coleman says on the campaign trail, sometimes she hears people ask if she is just going to disseat to Washington D.C. once she gets elected.

“I’m not ‘going’ to D.C.,” she says. “I’m already connected here in the community. I’ll go work there sometimes and stay rooted here, like I have always have been.”

With the election approaching, Coleman says she is the safe bet for conservatives who want a Republican to win against McAdams.

“People want to know that I can beat Ben,” Coleman says. “There could be multiple candidates in this race that check the boxes, but I’m the only one with the record. I have a pattern of winning, and a pattern of sticking to my principles, and patterns repeat. I’m not on the trail talking about what I’d like to do someday. I’m talking about what I’m already doing, and I’m just taking it somewhere else.”