PROVO — Utah Gov. Olene Walker admitted Wednesday that she is worried about winning favor from Republican delegates at the party's state convention in May.
Speaking to a group of educators at a conference Wednesday, Walker said she feels confident about her ability to retain the governor seat — as long as she can surpass the first hurdle.
"I say this with confidence: I think I can win the primary and the general election," she said. "But I think I'm going to have a tough time getting out of the convention."
Being the incumbent actually works against her, Walker said, because she doesn't have the same schedule or resources as the other eight Republican candidates.
"I'm a governor during the day and often at night so I don't have the freedom of time — and maybe as much money — as some other candidates," said Walker, who asked the audience to help her make contact with all 3,500 delegates before the convention.
Despite those limitations, Walker
assured the crowd of educators from five Utah school districts and Brigham Young University that she will rally for education for the rest of her campaign and the rest of her current term.
"The challenges have become even greater," Walker warned teachers. "The need to make a change in our education system has become even more acute."
To do that, Walker said Utah must create and sustain local jobs to provide the necessary funding for education, as well as the juvenile justice system and child health care.
She also emphasized her reading program, which asks caregivers to read with children for at least 20 minutes each day. That will not only assist in the education process, Walker said, but it will help reduce juvenile delinquency and its subsequent cost to taxpayers.
"We need to start at the lower grades and we need to start with the basic skills," she said. "And to me, the basic skill is reading."
Conference attendees gave the governor several standing ovations, largely for Walker's attempts to get more money for education in a state that consistently ranks last in the nation for per-pupil expenditures.
In the 2004 Legislature, Walker helped to pass the $30 million reading improvement program, which aims to have each child reading at or above grade level by the third grade.
Walker has been criticized for trying to take transportation money and use it for schools. But Walker said the road projects she asked to defer are identical to those recognized in another bill by the Legislature.
E-MAIL: lwarner@desnews.com