Democratic gubernatorial candidate Patrick Shea, who has worked in Washington five different times, met with old contacts last week to raise funds for his campaign.

"The most money my father ever made in a year was about $11,000. It still amazes me that I'm trying to raise 10 times that amount to run for an office that pays seven times that amount," he said.Shea worked in Washington for such former Democratic senators as Frank Moss of Utah, Birch Bayh of Indiana and Mike Mansfield of Montana. He also worked on congressional committees, where he even led an investigation into the infamous shootings at Kent State University.

He said the contacts made are proving valuable in raising money in Washington and receiving help for other fund-raisers, including bringing Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., to Utah this week.

"It is a little tough to find money because of all the races this year" ranging from president to Senate and House, Shea said. "But I've met with a lot of friends who said they are interested in helping."Is Eyre a copycat? Ed Little of the Independent Party of Utah asked in a release this week, "Is Richard Eyre a copycat or a plagiarist?"

Little charged that gubernatorial candidate Eyre got the idea to name his organization "Citizens for Utah" from George Romney, who had an organization called "Citizens for Michigan" and whom Eyre had met in the late-1960s.

Moreover, Little said, Eyre's KSL radio show, "The Blue Roads," which he began in 1989, sounded reminiscent of William Heatman's national best-seller, "Blue Highways." While Eyre was describing his and his family's travels "along the blue roads of Utah" on the radio, Heatman's book dealt with his travels through Kansas in the mid-1980s.

But most of all, Little worried about a letter Eyre wrote in May and sent out to Republican delegates, outlining some of his education plans.

Little quoted from Eyre's letter, saying that Eyre proposed a budgeting option strictly for teacher salary increases, school district consolidation, administration reduction and a number of other budgetary cutbacks and efficiencies.

"These sentences were lifted from Merrill Cook's education press releases," Little said. "On March 16, 1992, Merrill Cook outlined his Focus on the Classroom five-point plan in which he advocated" education reforms similar to those proposed by Eyre.

Associated Press

The Socialist Workers Party is launching a petition drive to get its presidential and vice-presidential candidates on the Utah ballot.

The candidates are James Warren, a Chicago steelworker, for president, and Estelle DeBates, a staff writer for The Militant newspaper, for vice president.

"Teams of campaign volunteers will be dispatched over the next few weeks to solicit the support of Utah voters to add our candidates to the ballot," said Meg Hall, chairwoman of the 1992 Socialist Workers Campaign Committee.

View Comments

"This effort provides us with an excellent opportunity to talk to the people of Utah about the socialist alternative to Bush and Clinton and their parties of big business."

Three-hundred signatures are needed, but the Socialist Workers Party anticipates little difficulty with petitions, although DeBates' name won't appear on the ballot because of "undemocratic age requirements for assuming the office of vice president," Hall said.

In Utah and other states where the 32-year-old DeBates' name cannot appear, Willie Mae Reid, the Socialist Workers candidate for vice president in 1976, has agreed to be a stand-in.

The party's state candidates already have been certified for the ballot. They include Eleanor Garcia and William Arth for governor and lieutenant governor; Patricia Grogan for U.S. Senate; Eileen Koschak for U.S. House, 2nd District; and Nels J'Anthony for U.S. House, 3rd District.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.