We’ve all been bombarded by the political advertisements in the contest between Sen. Mike Lee and challenger Evan McMullin.
It is one of the unusual aspects of Campaign 2022 in Utah since there typically aren’t competitive contests, like the Senate campaign, in a state that is so heavily Republican.
Another campaign oddity is, unfortunately, playing out in the Park City area. Park City and Summit County elections can oftentimes become testy. But this year a Park City Board of Education election in the final weeks of the campaign became downright ugly, and we question how the politicking descended to such a low level so quickly.
Meredith Reed and Mandy Pomeroy are seeking the District 4 seat on the Board of Education, a nonpartisan office. Pomeroy holds the seat now after being appointed, rather than elected, and is seeking a full first term. Meredith Reed is challenging for the seat.
The contest recently became borderline bizarre with Pomeroy using an image on campaign materials of Reed and Reed’s children. That quickly prompted a rebuke from Reed and then a political rebuttal from Pomeroy. The situation sadly continued with claims of Pomeroy’s mother physically confronting Reed and then the possibility Reed could press charges against her opponent’s mom.
Voters now need to sift through the claims and counterclaims in the contest for District 4. The voters, though, need to ask something even more important: What on earth does this dispute have to do with the education of children in the Park City School District?
Education for decades has been a difficult topic since there just are not enough in tax collections in the state to properly fund a system needed to serve a large population of school-age children. The Park City School District, by many measures, has been one of the state’s successes, making the Board of Education such an important public body.
The contest between Reed and Pomeroy needs to pivot toward the issues as quickly as it spiraled into what it has become. Ballots are arriving in the mail-in election, and voters are already making their decisions. Election Day is less than three weeks away.
The voters in the Park City School District deserve a District 4 campaign that sticks to the important issues. Not a Lee-versus-McMullin bombardment.