District 53 candidates reveal campaign finances
The two candidates competing for a spot on the Republican Party ticket for the District 53 race in Tuesday’s Primary Election submitted their campaign finances to the lieutenant governor’s office this week.
All financial disclosures for the state and local races were due on Tuesday, June 21. The reports include contributions and expenditures from April 14 through June 21.
According to newcomer Logan Wilde’s report, he has used $4,380 of his own money to finance his campaign race against incumbent Rep. Mel Brown, of Coalville. That is nearly half of the money the Morgan County Council member has raised so far for his first statehouse race. His contributions to date total $9,510.
"Most of it was from me or family members," Wilde said. "What I was trying to get away from was corporate donations and special interests. I didn’t want to be beholden to some of these groups."
Wilde’s top donors for his campaign were:
- Logan Wilde: $4,380
- Mark DeYoung (friend): $2,500
- M.R. Wilde and Sons (family business): $1,000
- Cottonwoods Mutual Water Company LLC: $500
There weren’t many expenditures listed for Wilde, at least not compared to Brown’s campaign. However, Wilde spent nearly $1,000 more.
A portion of Wilde’s money paid for a campaign assistant, voter poll and data research. The rest of his contributions supported flyers and yard signs. Wilde said the poll showed he had a slight edge over Brown. However, he said the data was skewed.
"When I looked at the people that were polled, out of only 100 in the district, a large majority of them were right out of Morgan," Wilde said. "I think it was kind of useless."
When Brown ran unopposed two years ago, he hardly staged a campaign. According to his 2014 finance reports, Brown only received $1,000 in contributions before the primary election. He spent nearly $5,000, which went to fuel expenses and a campaign consultant.
This year, donors have contributed approximately $5,000 to his campaign against Wilde. Brown contributed about $150 himself. Two political-action committees, including a group associated with education associations in Summit County, were among the donors. Other contributors include the Zions Bankcorp PAC and the Worker’s Compensation fund.
Brown’s top donors were:
- Utah Association of Realtors PAC: $1,500
- Lawyers Involved in Utah: $500
- Eastern Utah Uniserv PAC fund (a unit of the Utah Education Association): $500
- Utah Rural Telecommunication Association: $500
Voting deadline nears
Only registered Republicans are able to cast a vote for the District 53 race. The deadline to register was June 21. However, someone can still affiliate as a Republican at the polls on Election Day if they surrender their unaffiliated ballots.
As of Friday at around 11:45 a.m., approximately 3,008 mail-in ballots had been collected. That number includes ballots collected from the dropboxes. Nearly 22,000 ballots were sent to Summit County’s registered voters. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by midnight, June 27.
For the primary and general elections, six drop-off locations will be available through Election Day. Four voting assistance centers will be open on June 28. Only those who didn’t receive a ballot or received the wrong one are encouraged to use the polling locations.
The voting assistance centers will be located at: Coalville City Hall, 10 North Main; Kamas City Hall, 170 North Main; Park City Municipal, 445 Marsac; and Ecker Middle School, 2465 West Kilby Road.
The dropbox locations will be at: Coalville City Hall, Kamas City Hall, Park City Municipal, Sheldon Richins Building, 1885 West Ute Blvd, Trailside Administrative Building, 5715 Trailside Drive and the Fresh Market-Jeremy, 3151 West Kilby Road.
For more information about the dropbox hours, go to http://summitcounty.org/281/Voter-Registration-Elections
Summit Land Conservancy formally closes on ‘keystone’ project partially acquired through open space bond
”The land is beloved by all of my brothers and sisters and cousins, as my grandfather bought it in 1914. My daughter Michelle is now the fourth-generation that has loved and worked the land,” said landowner Irene Ruf. “It’s just precious. It’s home.”
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Park City and Summit County make the Park Record's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.