During our 38 years of married life, my husband and I have been very active politically at the grass roots level in the Republican Party. We have been county delegates, state delegates, and precinct officers.

But as early Americans felt compelled to "dissolve the political bands" which connected them to England, we, too, have felt compelled to break with the Republican Party. As they listed their reasons in the Declaration of Independence, I, too, list a few of our reasons:

There have been 12 years of Republican leadership in Washington, D.C., with the last six years having a Republican president. Abortion is still legal. Under Republican leadership, government spending has doubled (war expenses are not included in that equation.) We send our boys overseas to protect us from terrorists, and yet we leave our borders wide open for anyone to walk across. But probably most troubling is the direction we are headed when it comes to protecting our national sovereignty. This Republican congress passed NAFTA, and CAFTA; and last year the SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership for North America) agreement was signed by President Bush. The SPP will merge Canada, United States, and Mexico into a North American Union similar to the European Union and is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Like us, hundreds of thousands of voters across the state and nation, frustrated with the direction our country is going and wanting to return to sound principles, are joining the Constitution Party.

Care needs to be taken in not confusing the Constitution Party with the Constitutionalist Party. They are very different. Unlike the latter, the Constitution Party believes in the sanctity of life, supports the Defense of Marriage Act, believes in securing our borders and opposes trade agreements that destroy our national sovereignty.

I was the vice-president for Utah Eagle Forum for four years, which gave me experience at the state capital. Since moving to Vernal in 2004, I have been the secretary for the Uintah County Constitution Party.

I feel I am qualified for the job because I understand the proper role of government, which is to protect the inalienable rights of the citizens.

"Life, liberty and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it is the fact that life, liberty and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place." ("The Law," by Frederic Bastiat, a French economist in the 1800s).

To me the proper role of government is simple: People, wanting help to protect their lives, their liberty and their property, created government. They could only delegate to their government that which they had the right to do themselves. And according to our Founding Fathers, when government assumes any other functions than protecting our inalienable rights, it is usurpation and oppression.

This understanding will greatly help me determine whether a bill is constitutional or not.

What I want to do most as a state senator is protect the freedoms and pocketbooks of the citizens of District 26, and join with other state legislatures in trying to stop the SPP.

Just as the early American colonists had the daunting task of facing Great Britain, we also have a daunting task: that is to restore our republic by returning to constitutional principles. We must use the same slogan as they used, "The duty is ours, the results are God’s."