We Stand United

Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah Democrats chose the "good jobs, good education, good health" candidate Bob Springmeyer as their candidate to run against Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Before Springmeyer was nominated Saturday with nearly 87 percent of the delegate vote, he made a surprise nomination of Josie Valdez for lieutenant governor.

"We're in this to win," Springmeyer said, pointing to "all the energy of the new people" attending the convention this year.

He sees winning the governorship as "a simple numbers game." He says 39 percent of Utahns consistently vote Democratic while 41 percent vote Republican.

"The math is easy. If we can get 12 to 15 percent, we'll win," said Springmeyer, president of economic management consultant firm Bonneville Research.

Valdez's nomination was welcomed with a standing ovation and cheers from the crowd packed into the South Ballroom of the Cal Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center. "My task is to help unite and grow the party and see victory in November," Valdez said. "We stand united and united we shall win."

12 to 15 percent are not bad numbers, especially when you see numbers like this for the incumbent.

For more on the convention, A Liberal Mormon has a great rundown of the candidates.

Democrat Springmeyer files to become candidate for governor

SALT LAKE CITY – Bob Springmeyer filed today to run for Utah governor.

“I am running for governor because I know that Utah can and must do better,” said Springmeyer, a lifelong Democrat. “This is a great state. But it must be an even greater state.”

Specifically, Springmeyer said:

“I’m not satisfied that more than 400,000 Utahns, including 135,000 children, have no health insurance, and many more families are struggling to keep up with rising insurance costs.”

“I’m not satisfied that one-third of Salt Lake District students and almost half of Ogden students dropout, and far too many of our Hispanic students end up dropping out. Pretty good is just not good enough anymore.”

“I’m not satisfied that Utah wages as a percentage of national averages have been falling steeply since the early 1980s under Republican administrations – 80 percent of Utah workers have suffered real wage loss since 1979.”

“I’m not satisfied that when my 87-year-old mother tries to call the state she can’t get a real human – just a complicated stream of clicks, beeps and frustration.”

Springmeyer said middle class families are being squeezed by higher health-care costs, energy and tuition prices. “The only thing that is absolutely certain is that we cannot wait to act – We Must Do Better,” he said.

Springmeyer is a Utah native long active in the community. His accomplishments include:

He and his wife, Gwen, chaired the efforts to build the Ronald McDonald House of Utah – serving the families of hospitalized children of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada.

He helped form and is the first president of the “Utah Wildlife and Conservation Foundation” to improve the habitat of non-game wildlife in Utah and to educate students of the importance of the Great Salt Lake.

He is the father of four adult children and grandfather to four grandsons.

He is the president of Bonneville Research, a regional economic and management consulting firm.

An avid cyclist and advocate for bicycle safety, Springmeyer helped form and plan for the annual Josie Johnson Memorial Bicycle Ride.

He and his wife Gwen were born in Provo, and now live in Salt Lake City.

Bob Springmeyer: Utah Democrat for Governor

Democrat steps up to take on Huntsman
Springmeyer will run for governor
By Robert Gehrke
Article Last Updated: 03/10/2008 07:10:35 PM MDT

Posted: 6:56 PM- Bob Springmeyer, whose hobbies include the winter sport of skeleton, has hurtled face-first through treacherous twists and turns on a sled just a few inches above a frozen concrete slab.

"Probably the only thing crazier than sliding headfirst down a bobsled track at 70 miles per hour is running against Jon Huntsman," he said today.

But that's what lies ahead for Springmeyer, a management consultant from Salt Lake City who plans to file within the next week to run against the popular Republican governor.

It is, indeed, a daunting prospect.

According to a poll for The Salt Lake Tribune earlier this year, 78 percent of Utahns rated Huntsman's performance as either good or excellent. Economic growth has been strong during his term and he avoided any major dust-ups with the Legislature in the just-completed session.

"It's a state that gave him a huge vote last time. . . . He can raise money. He has high name recognition in the state, very low negatives. It's hard to calculate where any vulnerabilities would be," said Kelly Patterson, a Brigham Young University political science professor.

But Patterson says there is value in getting an opponent on the ballot, since it helps maintain the party's profile and gives voters an option so they can hold elected officials accountable.

Springmeyer, 64, a life-long Utahn and Democrat, is the founder of the consulting company Bonneville Research.

His firm has studied numerous issues, including police coverage for Riverton and Holladay cities, redevelopment in South Salt Lake and Riverdale, potential commercial development in Lindon, business licensing in Price.

Springmeyer said that education is probably his most important issue. "I've got four grandsons, and if Utah and our young people are going to be competitive in this world economy, education is Job 1," he said.

He has an appointment with Huntsman later this week, a sort of courtesy call to talk about the campaign, but he would probably not file until nearer the March 17 deadline, because he wants to "keep the campaign as short as I can."

Huntsman's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, said the governor feels that he has achieved much in his first term, and has more that he would like to accomplish in another four years.

"Certainly he's taking it seriously. The governor's philosophy isn't that you run against somebody else but you run for the office," she said. Huntsman plans to file for re-election this morning.

Through today, the only candidate to file for governor was Monty Nafoosi, a Bountiful real estate developer who is scheduled for a court appearance Thursday on a charge for marijuana possession.

Nafoosi, who lists his nickname as "Millionaire" on his filing, told The Associated Press that he suffers from muscular dystrophy and police found two joints, that he uses as medicine, when they responded to a burglary call at his house.

He is running as a Democrat and says on his Web site that "Joseph Smith wanted me to tell you that there should be an electric car in every garage," and he would meet that goal in his first term.