FILE – Utah Republican Party’s outgoing Chairman Thomas Wright addresses the Utah Republican Party’s annual organizing convention Saturday, May 18, 2013, in Sandy, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
SALT LAKE CITY – A former chair of the Utah Republican party is the latest candidate to enter the race for governor. Thomas Wright said in a Facebook post Thursday that no other candidates have the right mix of experience, imagination and energy that he believes the state needs.
“I have watched as people have one by one announced their intentions to run for governor,” Wright said in his post, “and to borrow a line from U2, ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.’
“Some good people have entered the race. But I am not seeing the right mix of experience along with imagination and energy, the sense of excitement about the unlimited possibilities of our future, that I believe Utah needs.”
Wright is also the president of a real-estate firm and a member of the Republican National Committee. This would be his first campaign, personally, for public office.
“I am running for governor because when I look at Utah, where we are, and more importantly, where we can go and what we can be, I see no limits,” he added. “But as well as we have done as a state, I believe it is time for new leadership with big ideas and fresh energy. The challenges of a new decade require a new vision and a new leader.”
He joins a crowded field vying for the GOP nomination that includes former governor Jon Huntsman Jr., and current Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox.