Salt Lake County Clerk candidate Goud Maragani went to confession Monday night.
I was there with about 75 other witnesses at the Eastside Candidate Forum. Maragani stood on the Highland High School stage and essentially said, “Oops sorry, I was wrong about the 2020 election being stolen.”
Curiously, he didn’t say sorry to the poll workers who tend to be older Americans whom after decades of service quit for fear of being filmed and followed home by extremists. Or sorry to the career election professionals whose honest work was interrupted and questioned by a marauding band of self-appointed “election integrity” vigilantes. Or sorry to the taxpayers who footed the bill for hours of overtime pay for UPD officers to protect those workers and volunteers.
Instead of one moment of honesty, Maragani had the cunning to make sure he specifically acknowledged his mistake was in regard to the 2020 presidential election, and the audacity to double down on his claims about finding “concerning issues” in Salt Lake County elections. His proof? Maragani told us that someone who used to work in the County Attorney’s Office but doesn’t now, told someone else, who told him, that they suspected there were about 10 cases of fraud per election cycle.
And even though Maragani was totally buffaloed by the 2020 “stolen election” lie, he still thinks voters should trust him to fix those potential unconfirmed “concerning issues.”
You’ve probably never heard of Lannie Chapman — Maragani’s opponent also on the Highland High stage that night — because Chapman isn’t a politician.
She isn’t practiced at giving speeches or drawing attention to herself because for the last three years she has been demonstrating her effectiveness and gaining experience by serving as chief deputy under Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen.
Chapman has her nose to the grindstone right now running our free and fair elections. Her flawless performance in the job led to Swensen appointing Chapman to fill her very capable shoes as Salt Lake County clerk. Chapman is probably starting to wonder why her impeccable record isn’t enough against an inexperienced corporate lawyer who can’t keep his own story straight.
Maybe she’s even wondering why in previous election cycles a county clerk campaign fundraised at a level of about $60,000 and since election deniers got involved, that requirement has jumped to $500,000. Having met Chapman once, she strikes me as a person who is more interested in preparing for the next day’s work at the office over monetizing other people’s work and character flaws.
So even though Maragani invites voters to be as fascinated by his personal “journey” as he is, I’m going with the experienced public servant whose work speaks for itself.
Kathy Adams is a writer who lives in Salt Lake City.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/UwCVAW9
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