Phil Graves focuses on Great Salt Lake, gerrymandering in House District 20 race
Photo supplied, Phil Graves
Phil GravesPhil Graves is a Democratic candidate for the House District 20 seat. Below are his responses to a six-question survey sent to him by the Standard-Examiner. The Standard-Examiner made an attempt to contact each candidate involved in a competitive race in Weber and Davis counties.
1. Why is the position you are running for important?
The Utah House is truly,” The People’s House”, and to me it is the foundation of Utah’s democracy. However, due to political gerrymandering, and a lack campaign finance laws in Utah, the Utah House no longer accurately represents or is accountable to the people of Utah. It is time to end political gerrymandering and one party rule here in Utah. I am running as an average working class dad to help to bring my perspective to the legislature, and to help end one party rule in Utah.
2. What unique qualities, attributes, skills, and experiences do you possess that make you the best candidate in this race?
3. Please explain your priorities if elected, as well as why you believe you are uniquely capable of achieving those priorities.
My top priorities would be first, to treat saving the Great Salt Lake as the true emergency it is. The Republican SuperMajority has wasted a decade waiting for the divine to solve the issue, and in that time the issue has only gotten worse. On top of that the Republican leadership has continued to approve projects that divert water from the lake adding to the problem. The lake is a ticking time bomb that needs to be addressed NOW. My next priority would be to protect and fully implement Prop. 4. It is so important that political gerrymandering comes to an end in Utah for the sake of our democracy. Third I would fight to fully fund public schools and ending the voucher program.
4. Please describe how you view the importance of compromise in politics and provide an example from your own experiences that highlights your perspective.
Compromise is important, but the actions of Republican leadership over the past fifteen years has shown they do not believe in compromise. The law of the Republican super majority in the Utah House has been, “The strong do as they will, and the weak do as they must.”. I will do my best if elected to find common ground, but based on the Republican’s past behavior I am not holding my breath.
