Two other Republicans have signed up to run for Salt Lake County GOP chairman - Chap Riese and Kurt J. Rosenhan join Peter Van Alstyne and Donald J. Purser in a race for the two-year, volunteer post.
County GOP delegates will meet Saturday at 9 a.m. in Taylorsville High School to pick a new chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and secretary.Riese is a retired San Francisco police officer who moved to Utah several years ago to be close to his grown children who reside here. He is currently acting vice chairman of the county party, taking over that post the first of the year at the request of the county party's executive committee.
He's a member of the county central committee and has served as voting district chairman, Senate district chairman and held other party posts. "I was born a Republican and have been one all my life."
"I'm running because I think I can make a difference," Riese said. "Part of the political process is to get Republicans elected to office, and that's what I want to do. I'm retired and I can serve as a full-time chairman. That's very important. I have the experience since I've worked in the party offices the last two years.
"We need to be a fund-raising organization; that's key today and in the future. We have to identify the voters and get out the vote. We must get all voters involved in the political process," Riese said.
Rosenhan was Salt Lake County Commissioner Bart Barker's assistant campaign manager in 1986. He's also worked on the Reagan/Bush Utah campaign and on Robert Wright's gubernatorial races. He's a past member of the Salt Lake County Boundary Commission.
Rosenhan, a marketing representative for IBM, said through his job he's learned to motivate people - a key skill in recruiting good Republican candidates and in fund raising.
As in dealing with people in business, "the public has specific needs, and it's the party's job to provide specific and exciting solutions."
Rosenhan has a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University and a MBA from Arizona State University. He served an internship with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.