By ANGELA HOWELL
Utah’s District 64 position has two new candidates this year. The candidates are Becky Lockhart, a Republican, and Richard Grant Thayne, a representative for the Natural Law Party.
Lockhart is a registered nurse and a mother of three. She said as a woman and a mother, she can bring to the position “a different kind of needed perspective that a lot of the legislators don’t have.”
“I’ve been interested in doing this for a long time,” Lockhart said. “I’ve always been interested in state and national issues, and I just have felt real strongly that I can make a difference.
“Growth is a big issue for most people in Utah, and I believe that growth issues belong at the local level,” she said. “I think the state can help with transportation-type issues, but I would definitely like to see the state stay out of specifics and let the local governments take care of that.”
Thayne said he wants to help the school system and preserve liberty.
“I believe in the right for boys and girls to aim for a dream from the time they’re little kids,” Thayne said. “I believe in the founding fathers, the Congress (and) the Constitution. We should keep cities, states and nations separate.”
Thayne said he has been in scouting all his life, and he became interested in President Abraham Lincoln in the first grade.
According to Thayne, the Natural Law Party is a new political group that “believes in bettering the schools and making it possible for boys and girls to reach for their highest dreams in school.”
Randal Longstroth, secretary for the Natural Law Party of Utah, said the Natural Law Party was founded in the United States in 1992.
“They are very much for education and the strength of the individual,” Longstroth said.
Longstroth said the party is also in favor of sustainable agriculture and is against bioengineering of foods.
Todd Taylor, executive director for the Utah State Democratic Committee, said the Democratic Party could not find a representative to run for the District 64 position.
“I’m sure there was a full court effort to try to find candidates to run. It’s just more difficult in some areas than in others,” Taylor said.
