CEDAR CITY – In the space of 48 hours, between Saturday and Monday, Cedar City was visited by two members of Utah’s U.S. Congressional delegation, then by three of the candidates who are seeking to unseat them in the upcoming election.
The incumbents and challengers respectively appeared at two separate lunchtime events that were both organized and hosted by local Republicans, although they differed in terms of scope and purpose.
The first luncheon was Saturday’s Lincoln Day event, sponsored by the Iron County GOP and featuring speeches by Rep. Chris Stewart and Sen. Mike Lee.
Then, on Monday, the Iron County Republican Women’s luncheon featured U.S. Senate candidates Becky Edwards and Ally Isom, both of whom are challenging Lee’s bid for a third six-year term, in addition to challenger Erin Rider, who is running against Stewart for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District seat. Stewart, who was first elected in 2012, is in the final year of his fifth two-year term.
At the latter event, held at the Courtyard Marriott, each of the three women spoke for 15 minutes to tell the 65 people in attendance why they have chosen to run against the incumbents.
Erin Rider
Rider, who spoke first, framed her remarks around three basic questions she said she’s often been hearing and pondering lately.
“First question is, what does it actually mean to be a Republican today?” she said. “If you think about it, 2020 was kind of a brutal year for us on a federal level. We lost The White House and the Senate and are in the middle of what a lot of people are calling a party identity crisis.”
“Second thing I hear is that people want sanity in politics,” Rider added. “People feel that the Republican Party has gone too far right, that we have abandoned some of our core values, that we have become a party of obstructionists, the party of no, and that we’re not putting forth good solutions any longer. Similarly and relatedly, people are frustrated with the representatives — they feel like the representatives have abandoned them.”
Rider then referred to Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that members of the House of Representatives are subject to reelection every two years.
“When the founding fathers were going through and deciding how long to set each term, they decided to set the House two years, the intent being that the frequent turnover in members of the House would allow those representatives to be the most responsive to the will and the mind of the people that they were supposed to represent, because they were the closest to those people,” Rider said.
“If we have an ineffective, absent representative in the House of Representatives, we do not have a voice in the group that is supposed to be the most responsive to our needs,” she said, adding, “Third question: where do we go from here?”
“It’s time to stop living in the past. We have to move forward,” she said. “This election is about the future of the Republican Party. We have to decide now who we are and what it means to be a Utah Republican. This is a year for us to have a Republican renaissance, to go out and to truly define ourselves to retake control of our narrative.”
As she finished her remarks, Rider spoke of the inspiration she’d received from her grandmother who recently died at the age of 95.
“As I thought about her life and legacy over the last several days, there’s one thing that is very clear to me: a Utah woman knows how to get stuff done,” she said. “And right now in Washington, we need people who know how to get stuff done, and I cannot wait to be that kind of Utah woman and represent the Second District of Congress.”
Becky Edwards
Edwards then spoke, first talking about two groundbreaking Utah women. The first, Seraph Young, was just 23 years old when she cast the first vote by a woman when she cast her ballot in a municipal election on Feb. 14, 1870. The other was Martha Hughes Cannon, who made history in becoming the country’s first female candidate to win office as a state senator back in 1896.
“She ran against her best friend Emmeline B. Wells and her husband Angus Cannon, beat both of them and became the first woman ever elected to a state senate,” Edwards noted.
Addressing the luncheon crowd consisting of mostly female attendees, Edwards added, “I would say every single woman here is a political and community engagement descendent of these two remarkable women.”
Edwards then spoke of her own experience as a member of Utah’s House, where she represented Davis County for 10 years.
During each legislative session, Edwards said she’d open up her home on weekends to constituents.
“Every session for 10 years, I opened up my living room and let people come in,” she said. “We’d sit around the couches in my living room and talk about issues.”
“During that time, I probably had hundreds of people in my living room.”
Now, as a U.S. Senate candidate making the campaign rounds, Edwards said she has been taking one of those pieces of living room furniture with her as she visits various communities throughout the state.
“Since I couldn’t bring the whole state into my living room, we’re taking a piece of my home around the state,” she said. “I have a yellow couch that fits just barely in the back of my Volkswagen Atlas. We squish that thing in there and we’re taking that thing around. And it’s a wonderful reminder of the real impact that someone who listens and serves in a way that is deeply embedded in the very principles that are foundational here and our Utah values, how you can be both responsive to those and also incredibly effective, and work on some thorny, hard issues.”
Edwards then explained why she has chosen to run against Lee.
“What am I seeing right now across our state, and that has kind of spurred me into this race … I’ve seen an opportunity for us to address an incumbent who continually misses the opportunity to align with our Utah values.”
“People want to have someone who has a track record of getting things done,” Edwards added. “People also want to see a representative in the U.S. Senate, who has a willingness, a mindset and a skill set to work in a bipartisan way, and within the Republican Party in a way that maintains the integrity of our Republican values, but still brings people to the table and adds a Republican voice to the issues that are so integral to the future that our country faces.”
Edwards also pledged to support rural Utah communities.
“You have my deepest commitment that the very same things that made me an effective legislator are the very values, principles and skill set that I will bring to the U.S. Senate,” she said.
Ally Isom
The third and final speaker at Monday’s luncheon was Isom, whose background includes a stint as former Gov. Gary Herbert’s deputy chief of staff.
Isom showed a short video that highlighted her background, her family and her reasons for running against Lee.
“I saw our Senator Mike Lee fight, but about politics, not about helping Utahns,” Isom said in the clip. “He voted against the Violence Against Women Act, refused to help Utah’s rural communities, wouldn’t help Utah businesses during the toughest times of the pandemic.”
Isom also noted that Lee was also the lone dissenting Senate vote on legislation to help ALS patients get expedited health care.
“The vote was 96-1. He was the one,” she said.
Isom then said that while Lee has traditionally been a vocal supporter of term limits, he’s no longer speaking out about it as much now that he’s running for a third term himself.
“I think therein lies the problem with Washington, D.C.,” she said. “Somehow, the machines of D.C. have become too strong, too important, and people aren’t saying the things that need to be said and doing the things that need to be done. So last week, I made a very public pledge to serve two terms and come home, because I believe the pH of D.C. can change a person. People start to get — I call it — intoxicated by the spotlight.”
Isom said she doesn’t disagree much with Lee regarding fundamental principles.
“Where I disagree with Sen. Lee is the outlier votes, and one of them was two days ago. I know he spoke about it on Saturday, but let me address this, because it’s not going away.”
“Two days ago, he was the one vote against a memorial for Japanese Americans who had been in internment camps in Colorado,” she said of the legislation to designate the Amache National Historic Site on a one in the rural community of Granada in the southeastern part of the state.
“Now, do I oppose the federal government creating more federal land?” Isom added. “Yes, absolutely. But in that moment, it was the wrong message at the wrong time.”
Another example cited by Isom was Lee’s opposition to a bill to provide compensation to 9/11 first responders, many of whom have been diagnosed with cancer. Lee cast one of the two dissenting votes against the measure, which passed 97-2 in July 2019.
“The message to send to law enforcement in that moment, is we have your back,” she said. “It wasn’t about the national debt.”
“Now, do I agree with him about the $30 trillion debt?” Isom added. “Absolutely, unequivocally. It’s a terrible legacy we’re leaving our children. We must fight to get back to Congress doing its job and overseeing that budget better, and I am committed to do that. But I promise not to embarrass you. Tell the right message at the right time to the right people, is what I hope to do.”
Isom, who had shared a similar message with a group of Southern Utah University students earlier that morning, showed a slide of photos at both events and talked about several of the individuals she has met as she’s traveled around the state during her campaign.
“These people are putting a face on the issues for me,” she said. “When I go out and I hear these stories, these are the people I will recall when we’re dealing with issues.
“I believe until we start talking and clearly communicating, we can’t solve any problems. And as I walk the state, I hear so many people across political spectrums tell me they feel unseen, unheard and unvalued. And when that happens, emotional intensity rises and when emotional intensity is high, we can’t solve any problems.”
“So my hope is, by communicating with straight talk with clear messages by being accessible and creating proximity between Washington D.C. and Utah, we can get clarity and we can start to tackle the biggest challenges we have,” Isom said.
Sen. Mike Lee
During Saturday’s Lincoln Day Luncheon, Lee didn’t speak directly about his own reelection campaign, although did touch on several current issues during his 40-minute speech.
First, he related the story of St. Valentine and how the cleric secretly performed marriages that were against the laws of that time.
“Understanding as he did, that marriage is a divine institution, he continued nonetheless,” Lee added. “He resisted. He pushed back against dictatorial authority and he married people anyway. He performed these marriages by night, under cover of darkness, so that people wouldn’t catch him.”
Lee then likened that situation to modern government.
“This is what big overpowering governments eventually do,” he said. “They act with barbarism and tyranny because they can. Because at the end of the day, that’s sort of what government is. Government is the official use of the ability to tell you what to do or what not to do. And to use coercive force when necessary to get you to do it.”
Lee went on to speak out against those who are “aggressively involved in leftist causes.”
“If you like deprivation, despotism and despair, that’s great – be a Democrat,” he said. “If you don’t, we’ve got a much better solution for you.”
Lee also explained his reasoning for his recent vote against the Amache measure, which kept it from advancing via unanimous consent although it still did pass.
“It’s already got a site designation right now; they just want the federal government to own it so the federal government can manage it and pay for it,” Lee said.
Lee also took issue with how his dissenting vote played out in the news media.
“So how would you imagine that headline would look, if it were written fairly?” he said. “It would probably say, ‘Senators are trying to iron out an agreement to figure out the terms and conditions upon which the federal government must proceed before acquiring this land, legitimate arguments on both sides.’ That’s sort of what it would look like, if we had a press that wasn’t sort of a hired mercenary for one side.”
“Instead, the headlines over and over and over again, many of them looking exactly the same as the others as if they got the whole thing from the Democratic National Committee said, ‘Utah Senator blocks legislation honoring interred Japanese Americans.’ It makes it look like I’m somehow racist, fascist, otherwise unsympathetic and that I’m being petulant in my objections to it. That’s what we’re up against. It happens over and over and over again. Now, look, I’m not complaining, this is part of the game.”
Lee then spoke of what he believes sets true conservative Republicans apart.
“As we approach another election season, as we approach caucus night conventions, primary elections and the general election in the fall, you as active conservative Republicans will be confronted with many candidates, whether they’re running for a delegate position, precinct chair or something else,” he said. “And you’ll have a lot of people like most Republicans, they’ll probably run while claiming to be a conservative in one way or another. But what are the ways you can differentiate them? One of the time honored ways in which you can tell an authentic conservative Republican from one who is not is what have they done? What have they sacrificed? What have they given out? What scars do they have to show you? What are they willing to do in order to stand up for what’s right?”
Paraphrasing Calvin Coolidge, Lee said a lawmaker’s job is to pass good laws and stop bad ones.
“The second is far more important,” Lee added. “Because a good law that doesn’t pass today can always be passed later. A bad law, once it’s passed, can be really, really difficult to get rid of. So yes, we need people who are willing to obstruct bad things that harm good people and destroy liberty. I am that person, and I’ll continue to be that person.”
Rep. Chris Stewart
Stewart, who has written several novels and nonfiction works, talked of his latest book that was recently published, entitled, “The Final Fight for Freedom: How to Save Our Country from Chaos and War.”
“The main premise of it is Washington D.C. will never fix these problems,” he said.
“If any of you are looking for solutions, please don’t look to Washington, D.C.,” Stewart added. “We’re committing national suicide. And Washington won’t fix it. They’re contributing to it.”
Instead, he said, the necessary solutions are going to be found at the state and local level.
“The Republican Party is going through a generational revolution right now,” Stewart said, “I love the fact that we represent the working men and the working women in this country. We don’t represent the chamber of commerce, we don’t represent big PAC, don’t represent big business. We don’t represent any of those things. Republicans represent the working men of women in America, and I love that fact.”
Stewart called upon Republican leaders and elected officials to work together to face the challenges, just as they’ve done in the past.
“We’ve been through tough times before. We created the miracle of the Constitution against severe opposition. We won the Civil War, World War II, the Great Depression … heck, we got through Jimmy Carter. We’re going to be able to get through this.”
“And the reason we’re going to get through it is … we know how to fix it. And if you don’t think we know how to fix it, look at the previous four years, look at every problem that we’re in counting right now and then compare it to the previous four years.
“He fixed it,” Stewart said, without mentioning Donald Trump by name. “Republicans fixed it.”
The problem, Stewart said, is not a matter of being unaware of what needs to be done.
“That’s not the problem we have,” he said. “We know how to fix it. We just need political leaders who will fix it, which is why one of the great days of my life will be when we take the gavel from Nancy Pelosi and give it to Kevin McCarthy.”
Other speakers at GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon
In addition to Lee and Stewart, several other elected officials took the stage and spoke briefly during Saturday’s Lincoln Day luncheon, which attracted a crowd of approximately 200 people in the Hunter Conference Center’s Great Hall on the Southern Utah University campus.
Among those giving brief remarks were Cedar City Mayor Garth Green, Iron County Commissioner Marilyn Wood, state Rep. Rex Shipp, state Sen. Evan Vickers, state treasurer Marlo Oaks and state auditor John Dougall, Iron County Republican Party chairman Volney Morin and other local GOP party officials.
“Given the present strength of the Republican Party in Iron County, many feel the winner of the primary election will be the winner of the November election,” Morin told Cedar City News afterward. “That is not a certainty but many feel it’s likely.”
Morin encouraged Iron County voters to make sure they are registered to vote, verify their current precinct and plan to attend their neighborhood caucus night and/or become a delegate. For more information, visit the Iron County GOP website.
Important upcoming election dates include the Iron County GOP convention on April 8 at Canyon View High School, the state nominating convention in Salt Lake City on April 23 and the primary election on June 28, with mail-in ballots going out about three weeks prior.
Photo Gallery
L-R: Candidates Becky Edwards, Erin Rider and Ally Isom shortly before speaking at the Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News U.S. Senate candidates Ally Isom poses with Southern Utah University students during an on-campus appearance, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News U.S. 2nd Congressional District candidate Erin Rider speaks at Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News U.S. 2nd Congressional District candidate Erin Rider speaks at Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News U.S. Senate candidate Becky Edwards speaks at Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News U.S. Senate candidate Becky Edwards speaks at Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News U.S. Senate candidate Ally Isom speaks at Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News U.S. Senate candidate Ally Isom speaks at Iron County Republican Women luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 14, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Iron County Republican Party chairman Volney Morin speaks during GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Attendees say pledge of allegiance during GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News State Sen. Evan Vickers speaks during GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) speaks during GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) speaks during GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) speaks during GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) speaks during GOP Lincoln Day Luncheon, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 12, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News
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