By Danny Chandler

Provo businessman and BYU alumnus Tim Bridgewater is officially running for U.S. Senate.
Bridgewater announced his candidacy at a press conference Oct. 22, though he has been planning the move for several months, he said.

“Washington, D.C., is a train wreck of irresponsible spending,” Bridgewater said at the announcement. “I am a small businessman and I think we need a small business attitude in Washington.”

Bridgewater is one of several candidates who want to challenge Sen. Bob Bennett’s long-held Senate seat in 2010.

“As people contemplate who to replace a powerful incumbent senator with, they will agree that we have to look to the future instead of the past if we want to strengthen the economy and minimize government’s role,” Bridgewater said. “Sen. Bennett has been part of the tax and spend culture in Washington.”

Bridgewater, of the BYU Class of 1985, is a former candidate for U.S. Congress and former Utah County Republican Party chairman.

Bridgewater said getting BYU students to vote is a priority for his campaign.

“I’ll have some events at BYU, and I certainly want to engage BYU students in the political process,” he said. “The type of government that we’re going to have in the future is dependent on the rising generation.”

Bridgewater’s ties to the university go beyond the fact that BYU is his alma mater. His wife Laura Bridgewater, is a professor of microbiology at BYU.

“He’s just as friendly as can be,” Laura said of her husband. “A lot of voters and students who have never voted will be interested by what my husband wants to accomplish.”

She said Bridgewater’s experiences with building success from the ground up would be carried over into his campaign. 

A bulwark of Bridgewater’s platform will be stressing the need for a small, unobtrusive government that respects the power of the free market.

“If I were a young person, I would look for someone who will have fiscal responsibility,” he said. “Many of the Utahns I’ve talked to are concerned that government is forcing mandates.”

Laura Bridgewater said her husband is an example of what makes America great. Coming from humble beginnings, being raised in a trailer park, Bridgewater succeeded through hard work, she said.

“If you want to be successful, you can,” she said. “There are lots of places where that’s not possible, and it needs to stay possible in the U.S. Tim will make that happen.”