Civic Engagement Tour bringing political candidates to Ogden on Thursday
OGDEN — Women’s Work Utah is bringing various candidates for political office to Ogden later this week through its 2024 Civic Engagement Tour.
According to a press release from Gina Timmerman of Women’s Work Utah, the tour will stop in Ogden on Thursday from 5-7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Ogden.
“In a partnership between KUER, Braver Angels, and Women’s Work Utah, the next stop of 2024 Civic Engagement Tour: Conversations with Candidates is giving the public in Weber County the chance to hear what candidates are like when they aren’t ‘stumping,'” the release said.
Timmerman said the event is meant to put the political process in its proper context.
“We treat elections more like sporting events,” she said in the release. “They’re not. Elections are interviews for important jobs, and that is the approach we are taking with this event.”
The release continues, “KUER assistant news director Caroline Ballard will conduct the interviews, giving each candidate the chance to show the voters how they will approach their jobs, how they’ll keep in mind constituent priorities and accountability to them, and how they’ll interact with others who disagree with their approach.”
In an email to the Standard-Examiner, as of Friday morning, several candidates had committed to participating.
“It is my understanding that we can expect to see Steve Van Wagoner, Brian Rowley, and Jim Harvey who are running for Weber County Commissioner,” Timmerman wrote. “We also have confirmations from Stacy Bernal for Senate District 3, Dr. Rosemary Lesser HD 10, and Angela Choberka HD 9; the Brian King and Rebekah Cummings for Governor and Lt. Governor campaign, Michelle Quist, running for Utah Attorney General. Utah State School Board candidate, Laura Bussey Johnson will attend as will Ogden School Board candidate, Stefanie Cragun.”
But the list could grow for the event.
“As can be typical with any event involving political candidates, we are still receiving and awaiting final confirmations from those campaigns eager to take us up on this opportunity to engage with the community in person, since really, there are not going to be many events such as this,” Timmerman said. “We are very excited to create an evening that allows citizens this opportunity to become informed and acquainted with our amazing community advocacy groups and many of the candidates running for office (contested races) all in one evening at one location. We are very grateful to the candidates who are availing themselves in recognition of their voters.”
For more information, visit https://www.womensworkutah.com/thetour-2.