This year’s midterm election race for Utah’s Attorney General is between Republican candidate Sean Reyes and Democratic candidate Charles Stormont, with Reyes taking the lead in polls.
Reyes held a lead with 47 percent to 27 percent for Stormont, according to a poll done by the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at BYU. Reyes was also in the lead with 57 percent against Stormont’s 22 percent in a poll by Utahpolicy.com.
Reyes was appointed by Gov. Herbert last December after former Attorney General John Swallow resigned following charges of “11 felonies and two misdemeanors, including multiple counts of receiving or soliciting bribes, accepting gifts, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct,” according to a Salt Lake Tribune article.
Mark Shurtleff, the three-term Attorney General preceding Swallow, was charged with similar allegations, according to KSL News.
Shurtleff and Swallow have both pleaded innocent. Regardless, both Reyes and Stormont said they hope to distance themselves from Swallow and Shurtleff. Each candidate has a section on their websites about restoring the public’s trust.
After Reyes was appointed, he argued the state’s position in the same-sex marriage case Kitchen v. Herbert and escalated the case and appeals process after the 10th Circuit ruled Utah’s marriage law unconstitutional.
On Oct. 6, when the Supreme Court rejected Reyes’ appeal case, same-sex marriage became legal again in Utah, and Reyes sent a letter to county clerks advising them to recognize “all legally performed same-sex marriages,” according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Stormont said he hopes to continue the former Attorney General’s use of administrative subpeonas — a process that allows investigators to obtain personal phone, bank and internet records from individuals without any court oversight.
The Salt Lake Tribune found 1,060 of these subpoenas have been issued since 2009 — during Shurtleff’s and Swallow’s terms. The use of administrative subpeonas was removed by Reyes this year.
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@SeymourSkimmer