KIMBALL JUNCTION — Andrew Badger is running for the U.S. House with a focus on accountability.

He wants to make sure the administration of President Joe Biden is held to account for its policies. Notably, he also wants to make sure Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are doing all they can to put the president’s feet to the fire.

“I ask for accountability,” said the Republican hopeful for the 1st District seat, now held by Rep. Blake Moore, also a GOPer. “It prompted me to want to run, to go back to service for our country.”

This is Badger’s first bid for public office and the campaign is his full-time gig for now. Five GOPers in all are seeking the seat, including Badger and Moore, along with one Democrat.

Badger — who describes himself as a “strong conservative” — most recently worked as a risk manager for a management consulting firm. Before that, he worked as an intelligence officer for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, which gathers military intelligence, serving stints in Germany and Afghanistan.

Dissatisfaction with the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, viewed as abrupt and chaotic by many GOPers and other critics, was the proximate spur to his bid for office. Aside from criticism for the president, though, he also pointed his finger at Republican lawmakers, saying they didn’t push back hard enough against the Biden administration on the move.

“It was the wake-up call for me that the Republicans weren’t fighting back hard enough to hold the Biden administration accountable,” he said. Badger currently lives in Kimball Junction near the southeastern corner of the 1st District, revamped as part of redistricting. He’s building a home in Coalville.

More broadly, Badger touts the ideas pushed by former President Donald Trump, his America First agenda, which prioritizes U.S.-centered policy. “It’s not so much Trump the person,” he said, describing the ex-president as a “flawed leader.” “I support the America First platform.”

In putting America first — the first of three key focuses as a candidate — he said he’d focus on making the United States energy independent, do more to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and strengthen the U.S. military.

What he touts as returning power to the people is his second focus. By that he means fighting against what he sees as the infiltration of critical race theory in the U.S. education system and pushing for medical freedom, which entails fighting against vaccination mandates, among other things. Assuring the integrity of the U.S. election system also figures, and he’d “do away with universal mail-in” balloting, the norm in Utah, in favor of in-person balloting. He’d allow mail-in balloting only in limited circumstances.

Holding the Biden administration accountable on varied issues is his third focus.

Aside from Badger and Moore, the other Republican 1st District hopefuls are Julie Fullmer, Tina Cannon and William Campbell. Rick Jones is the Democratic contender.

The Utah Republican Party hold a convention on April 23, when the party faithful will winnow the list of GOP hopefuls, and the primary is set for June 28. Election Day is Nov. 8.

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