SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah governor’s race is filling out, with another Republican candidate choosing a running mate.
Salt Lake County Council member Aimee Winder Newton announced Tuesday that her lieutenant governor pick is State Auditor John Dougall.
“John is a proven conservative leader, and I am so excited to have him on my team,” Winder Newton said in a statement. She said his knowledge of tax policy and history of “challenging bloated government programs” would be an asset as the state faces economic instability amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Dougall has been state auditor since 2013, after serving 10 years as a member of the Utah House of Representatives where he worked on a tax overhaul package. He said he wants to bring more accountability and transparency to state government and budgets.
Winder-Newton is one of several candidates vying for the GOP nomination for governor.
In January, she visited Southern Utah and said she believed water, economic development and jobs are some of the biggest issues facing the area. She also spoke on the tax reform bill that was in the midst of the referendum process at the time, as well as how she plans on supporting Southern Utah communities should she be elected.
“I’m a big proponent of local control,” she said during her visit to Cedar City. “I think that we push those decisions down to the most local level. The state’s got to stop having unfunded mandates and trying to dictate to everybody what to do. We have to let that happen in local governments; those are the people who know their communities better than we do.”
As far as other gubernatorial candidates, former U.S.-Russia ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr. and ex-GOP chair Thomas Wright have also named running mates. Provo mayor Michelle Kaufusi is running with Huntsman, and outgoing U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop is running with Wright.
Jan Garbett has selected former public health official Dr. Joe Jarvis.
Other candidates for the GOP nomination include ex-House Speaker Greg Hughes and businessman Jeff Burningham.
St. George News / Cedar City News contributed to this report.
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