There was controversy in the sheriff race this week as Summit County Republicans prepared for their convention on Wednesday.
Incumbent Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds, a Republican, faces a challenge from South Summit Republican Kris Hendricksen. If one of the candidates receives at least 60 percent of the votes from the delegates at the convention tonight they will eliminate their opponent and advance automatically as the GOP’s pick on the November ballot.
Hendricksen has complained that rules were violated when Republicans elected delegates at caucus meetings March 23. Those who caucused needed to be registered Republicans.
“There were questions raised about whether or not the people who came in to vote the night of the caucus, and even some of the delegates themselves, were registered as Republicans,” Hendricksen said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Some people at the caucus meetings were also accused of voting in precincts where they did not live, he said.
“Did they actually verify if these people lived in the districts that they showed up in and were voting in?” Hendricksen asked. “The delegate process has been stacked and there have been some questions about it.”
Some in the Summit County Republican Party are upset with Hendricksen for speaking out.
“I have been told that people in the Republican Party are ticked off at me because I am stirring the pot,” Hendricksen said. “All I am asking for is an even, fair shot.”
Summit County Republican Party Chairman Henry Glasheen insisted that party officials have followed the rules.
“I’m prepared to defend our process 100 percent We have not received any complaints as of yet,” Glasheen said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “We turn over any complaints related to the delegate process to a parliamentarian to assure that our process is fair and in compliance with county and state regulations. We’ve gone through every single one of our delegates and we have been assured that even if a complaint is raised that it will have no substance.”
Glasheen explained that Hendricksen’s supporters engaged in dirty politics this week.
“He has had people calling delegates and saying things about Dave Edmunds that are flat-out not true,” Glasheen said. “It is unfortunate that they have taken this tact. It really is. It could have been a good race and it could have been clean.”
The person who was spreading the lies about Edmunds is a prominent figure in the business community, Glasheen said. He did not disclose the person’s name.
“The person who did this is somebody who is high profile in a number of different ways,” Glasheen said. “There are a lot of businesses that interact with the Sheriff’s Office on a regular basis. So if someone feels, for example, that they didn’t get a fair shake from them, we’re getting people who are coming out and saying things that are flat-out not true.”
But Hendricksen countered that Edmunds began the trash talk by telling a reporter Hendricksen was the subject of an internal affairs investigation before he resigned from the Sheriff’s Office.
“Edmunds was told to keep his mouth shut. He was told that he was violating the rules,” Hendricksen said, adding that party officials asked both candidates to run clean campaigns. “You’ve got a man who is sitting in office who is afraid of losing his job and I understand that. But let the process be fair.”
Edmunds was not immediately available to comment.
The Summit County Republican Party convention at Park City High School begins at 7 p.m. on March 31.