Former convict and reformed politician Cody Judy asked students at the U to support him in his goal to represent Utah in the U.S. Senate Thursday at the Union Plaza.
Judy said he hopes people can look past his mistakes and not make their decisions based on events that took place 11 years ago. “It’s not uncommon to see good men who were charged unfairly. England thought George Washington and many of the founding fathers were convicts,” he said.
Judy was released on parole after serving seven years in prison for threatening former Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Howard W. Hunter and an auditorium of people with a bogus bomb during a fireside at the Brigham Young University Marriott Center in 1993.
Judy said that 40 percent of students are not voting and with the help of bands that volunteered to perform at his request like The Zac Miner Band, Hitch, 4 Thirteen, Never Tried Stopping, Code Hero and Stolen Marches, Judy plans to get the word out to students that their votes do matter.
Jesse Brooks from 4 Thirteen said it is important to get students to vote and the band was grateful for the rare opportunity it had to perform at the U.
“We’ll rock any chance we get,” Brooks said.
The campus is a key resource in the election and can change the outcome, according to Judy.
“Students need to understand how important their vote is in this election and in every election,” he said.
Judy had hoped to represent the Democratic Party on the election ballot, but party representatives decided Paul Van Dam was the better candidate.
According to Judy, the decision was “based on the man and not the plan.”
“I went to all the conventions, put 20,000 miles on my car and it really was not fair,” Judy said. “I believe that the reason they chose Paul Van Dam is because he is from their same generation and that generation has done enough damage.”
According to Judy, his High Five Plan includes an increase in support for education, national parks, health care, tourism in Utah, a dual fuel car plant and the responsible release of prisoners throughout the nation.
Judy decided to continue his campaign for office as a write-in candidate and said he has a chance of being elected if people vote for the candidate that would “best represent the state.”
“I care about Utah and give solutions for the problems we face as a nation,” Judy said. “Even Abraham Lincoln ran as a third-party candidate, and George Washington lost 13 battles before he won one.”
Judy did not actively speak with students about his campaign, but placed platform information fliers on a table for students to pick up.