Two residents throw hats in
ring for county commission
Candidates can rely on signatures or
convention, or both, to get on ballot
By James Tilson
Staff writer
Mar. 8, 2018
MANTI—Justin Atkinson and Edwin Sunderland have filed to collect signatures to run for the County Commissioner A seat—the seat set to be vacated by Claudia Jarrett later this year.
Atkinson and Sunderland, both running as Republicans, are gathering signatures to put their names on the primary ballot before the general election in the fall.
Gathering signatures to be put on the ballot for the primaries is a new procedure and somewhat controversial, as the Utah Republican Party’s lawsuit last year over the constitutionality of the procedure shows.
However, it will ensure that one’s name will be included on the ballot regardless of what happens at the party convention.
Declaration of intent to gather signatures can be made at any time between Jan. 2 and March 15. Signature packets must be submitted at least 14 days prior to the party convention.
The Sanpete County Republican Party Convention is currently scheduled for April 19, and the State Republican Party Convention is set for April 21.
The State Democratic Party Convention is set for April 28, but the Sanpete County Democratic Party has not set a convention date (as of press time).
The deadline for filing to run for county office begins on Friday, March 9, and runs until 5 p.m. on March 15.
The county offices up for election this fall will be county attorney, sheriff, county clerk, county auditor, half of the school board seats and county commission seats A and B. Seat B is currently held by Scott Bartholomew.
The time for declaring intent to run for local and state offices has not yet arrived. However, federal offices have already gathered quite a bit of interest. Both U.S. House of Representative seats that cover Sanpete County face challenges this year.
The Utah 2nd Congressional District (which includes southern Sanpete County) is currently held by Chris Stewart. He will face a challenge within his own party from Mary Burkett. Democrats Shireen Ghorbani, Randy Hopkins, Misty Snow and Carol Surveyor have filed as well.
The Utah 4th Congressional District (which includes northern Sanpete County) is currently held by Mia Love. She will not face a primary challenge but faces Democrats Tom Taylor, Adam Homer, Darlene McDonald and Ben McAdams.
More information on the upcoming election is available at the county clerk’s webpage at http://sanpete.com and at https://ballotpedia.org.
