Bruce Hough, a Republican stalwart who lives in Park Meadows, has a simple message for President Biden as he arrives in the Park City area for a fundraiser scheduled this week: Don’t meddle with the state during the trip to Utah.
Hough, who is seeking the GOP nomination in this year’s special election in the 2nd Congressional District, said presidents in the past have taken actions like creating national monuments without the support of state or local leadership. He does not want Biden to make such a move while visiting.
“Keep your hands off Utah. Do not overreach your executive authority,” Hough, who once was a Republican National Committeeman, said in an interview shortly before the president was slated to visit. “Leave us alone and let us manage the state.”
Hough, though, said it was not clear if a request like his will be presented to Biden while he is in the Park City area.
He said a visit by a Democratic president may be seen as a part of an effort to restrict rights to federal lands.
“I am suspicious when a Democrat takes a personal interest in our state,” Hough said about presidents.
The chair of the Summit County Democratic Party, meanwhile, is also readying for the presidential appearance. Katy Owens Hubler received an invitation to the event but did not plan to attend.
Hubler said she wants Biden to highlight topics like the benefits of federal monies distributed to communities and to talk about what he sees as the accomplishments during his first term in office.
“It’s flattering that he comes to Park City,” she said.
The appearance is scheduled on Thursday and media reports at the time of the announcement indicated the hosts are Kristi and John Cumming and Nancy and Mark Gilbert. John Cumming is the chairman and founder of the mountain resort company Powdr while Mark Gilbert is a former ambassador.
The logistical details of the appearance were not publicized by early in the week. It is almost certain, though, there will be impacts to roads in the vicinity of the event as well as along the route to and from the fundraiser as the Secret Service prepares the way for the motorcade. It was not clear whether Biden will arrive in the Park City area via a motorcade from the Salt Lake Valley or aboard the presidential helicopter.
It will be the highest-profile appearance in the Park City area by Biden since the summer of 2012, when he was the vice president as President Obama was seeking reelection. Biden at that time attended a fundraiser in the Snyderville Basin with the Obama-Biden ticket preparing for a challenge by Republican Mitt Romney in the fall campaign.
Biden during the 2012 trip arrived in the Basin in a fast-moving motorcade of police motorcycles, police cars and official vehicles. The motorcade exited Interstate 80 at Kimball Junction and sped southbound. Officers put up roadblocks at intersections along S.R. 224 prior to Biden reaching the state highway, creating a traffic-free route for the motorcade as it arrived at the turnoff into the neighborhood where the event was held. A group of Republicans demonstrated along the side of S.R. 224 close to Kimball Junction as the motorcade went by.
Biden will be the third incumbent president to visit the Park City area since the late 1990s. Bill Clinton twice traveled to Park City for family ski vacations during his second term and George W. Bush arrived in 2008 for a fundraiser benefitting other Republicans campaigning that year.
Park City has become a stop for candidates from both parties, with presidential-level competitors and those seeking seats in Congress scheduling events locally over the years for the purpose of raising campaign monies.