This is a year that both candidates for governor are qualified and educated about the issues.
Both candidates-Jon M. Huntsman Jr. and Scott Matheson Jr.-come from prestigious Utah families that have served the Utah community, be it through philanthropy or holding public office.
Both candidates have plans to help Utah’s economy, but they approach it from opposite views.
The two should be lauded for their clean, honest campaigning, but the view that will benefit students most is that held by Matheson. He sees that students and education have long taken the backseat to other priorities in the state, and he wants to reverse that.
His plan to fund education now and then watch the economy grow is the only way Utah will have a financially feasible economy.
Initiatives to stop the nursing shortage in Utah are essential to providing a service for the community that is desperately needed. More and better-educated nurses will increase the quality of health care for all.
Matheson also wants to increase funding for training teachers to help Utah’s children become better educated at a younger age. Students at the U who want to become teachers can do so with the knowledge that more and better-paying jobs await them after graduation if Matheson is in office.
Matheson also understands the needs of students. He has worked at the U for years as a professor and the dean of the law school.
He intimately understands the needs and responsibilities of students. That’s why he wants to increase the financial aid available to students and also wants to help fund day-care programs so young families can earn a living.
Matheson and Huntsman both come from educated backgrounds, but Huntsman would run the state from a business perspective. Matheson, with his strong academic background and law/political family background, will focus less on the bottom line and more on the needs of the community.
While both candidates have strong backgrounds in politics, Matheson can simply relate to college students better, and he deserves their votes.