SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah, Nov. 30, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Salt Lake County Councilmember Jenny Wilson has announced her mayoral candidacy — for now and for 2020.
Wilson said she will not only run in the January special election, to be called when current mayor Ben McAdams resigns the position to be sworn in as one of Utah’s U.S. senators, but again in the next regular election for the Salt Lake County position.
“I feel like I have a great education already,” Wilson told those gathered Friday morning for her formal announcement, citing her work for the council, including collaboration with other community leaders.
“This is a sprint. I just ended a marathon.”
The marathon was Wilson’s run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Utah Senator Orrin Hatch. That race was won by Mitt Romney.
Also a winner in that election was McAdams, who defeated incumbent Senator Mia Love and created the opening for his former position.
Wilson spoke highly of McAdams and his predecessor, Peter Corroon, saying she hopes to continue their legacy of responsiveness to community needs. The mayors and council have supported and helped build the arts and “a culturally significant Salt Lake City,” she said. They have built trails and have “led on important social justice issues.”
Wilson’s priorities have and will continue to include LGBTQ protections and attacking the opiod abuse epidemic, she said.
Wilson said she “will be in the driver’s seat” when it comes to youth programs, medical marijuana, new homeless shelters, mental health treatment dollars, domestic violence prevention and affordable housing.
“I believe strongly in equal pay,” she said. “We should have a workplace that is built on a foundation of respect.”
Wilson said she is happy that interim Salt Lake County Mayor Rosie Rivera won her election, and “she and I will work together to dramatically improve the way our jail is run.”
Wilson also hopes she will have the opportunity to safeguard Utah’s environment, she said, with “protection of canyons” and making sure the new inland port “does not worsen the air.”
The Republican candidate whom Democrat Wilson will face in the special election is not yet known.
Wilson said the race will officially begin when McAdams resigns his seat, which is expected to happen in the first week of January. The election will probably happen near the end of January, she said.
“I am prepared,” she said. “I know the issues … I have done the work.”
“I am ready to hit the ground running.”
