Two-time congressional candidate and recent Park City Council candidate Chadwick Fairbanks has launched a campaign for Utah’s first congressional district.
Pinebrook resident Chadwick Fairbanks has run for the congressional seat held since 2003 by Rep. Rob Bishop twice before. But with Bishop retiring, Fairbanks says now is the time that campaigning will pay off.
“I’ve been laying all the groundwork; I mean, the previous runs were to be active in the party, be running, be gaining the sort of name recognition and notoriety that you need to run for any office," Fairbanks said. "So the previous runs were just getting set up for when it was an open seat.”
Fairbanks says he wants to challenge the “deep state,” what he believes is the system of government bureaucrats making decisions behind the scenes at the nation’s capital. As for local issues, Fairbanks says he wants to focus on public lands. Fairbanks wants to bring the deed for land back to the state and implement the Alaskan land use model, where citizens own the land and the government acts as a broker between them and private businesses.
“Then we, as the citizens that are here locally, can determine and dictate what kind of environmental controls and how strict we want to be on conservation and ecological things," Fairbanks said. "That way, we can really tightly control and govern the use of the land, but while generating revenue out of the land that can go back to all the people as a basic income.”
An entrepreneur and business consultant, Fairbanks also has military and national security experience. He’s also the chair of the Utah Republican Veterans Caucus. Fairbanks says the open seat needs to be filled by someone who is ready for war.
“There’s a time and a place for everybody and everything, and D.C. doesn’t need more soccer moms—D.C. doesn’t need more lawyers either, quite frankly. I’m not a big fan of lawyers," Fairbanks said. "Right now, what we need in D.C. are more winter soldiers. Not sunshine patriots or summer patriots, we need winter soldiers, people that know what needs to be done and can get in there and do it, regardless of the consequences and the danger to oneself."
Utah’s first congressional district includes Summit County and most of Northern Utah. Several candidates have announced their candidacy for the open seat: Republicans Tina Cannon, Kerry Gibson, Cory Green, Mark Shepherd, Bob Stevenson, Park City resident Howard Wallack and Katie Witt, as well as Democrat Jamie Cheek. Unlike those candidates, Fairbanks will not gather signatures to qualify for the primary ballot. Rather, he intends to attend the Republican convention in April. The primary election is June 30.
