John “Jack” Murphy and Holly McClure took the stage at the South Summit Middle School around 9 p.m. last Tuesday. There aren’t any other Republicans running for the county council, so their nominations were in little doubt. McClure joked that there’d been enough speeches for one evening and the two should just lip-synch something together.
Instead, they opted to address the county delegates and convention-goers still in attendance, earning applause for themes including listening to constituents and avoiding government overreach.
Murphy drew the loudest applause when he took apparent aim at the state’s vote-by-mail system after asking how many in the audience were concerned about the validity of election results.
“I'm asking you, as delegates, to make it one of the pillars of this coming November, that we do not vote by mail. We do not vote by phone. But we go down to Coalville or we go down to a library and we vote with our hands, we vote in person,” Murphy said.
In a subsequent interview, Murphy clarified that he is not for or against voting by mail. He said he was attempting to instill confidence in the voting system, which he suggested is shaken but could be restored by voting in person.
Utah’s vote-by-mail system dates back to 2012 and Summit County adopted the practice in 2016. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who oversees elections in the state, has defended voting by mail; she’s said there is no evidence of election fraud in Utah.
Murphy told the crowd he felt he had to become a part of the government after having only partial success advocating for legislation at the statehouse the last couple of years.
“I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for us,” Murphy said. “I'm doing this for my kids. I'm doing this for your kids, I'm doing this for your grandkids. I saw what was going on and I said, ‘This can't stand, we cannot have this happen anymore.’”
Murphy explained in the interview he was referring to measures from the Biden administration including the vaccine and mask mandates and restrictions on oil and gas production.
Murphy said he went to the state Legislature multiple times each week in 2021 and 2022 to advocate for bills and counteract what he saw as overreach. He said he was not a lobbyist, and described the work as unpaid advocacy by a concerned citizen.
McClure, meanwhile, said in her convention speech that local governments should be centered on people. She said the county council is too focused on government and not enough on the concerns of county residents.
“If we had a people-centered government, I think every time there's a policy decision to be made, or any kind of decision, that the top of that value hierarchy on whether or not that's a good policy is, ‘Does this policy maximize individual choice and individual autonomy?’” she said.
McClure said, if elected, she would spend most of her time listening, vowing to hear everyone who comes to speak about a subject even if it means council meetings last until 2 a.m.
In November’s general election, McClure is facing Democrat Chris Robinson, who was first elected in 2008 and is seeking his fifth term. Murphy is facing Democrat Canice Harte and Libertarian Michael Franchek.
