SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Gary Herbert took a "cheap shot" when he criticized his Democratic rival, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, for sending his children to a private school, the head of the Catholic school they attend said Monday.
"Catholic school parents and leaders resent this cheap shot from Gov. Herbert in support of his own political goals," the Madeleine Choir School's pastoral administrator, Gregory Glenn, said. "Shame on Gov. Herbert for maligning the contribution of Catholic schools in Utah for his own political ends."
Herbert said last week that Corroon was "hypocritical" for sending his children to private school while claiming support for public education.
The governor's campaign spokesman said Monday that Glenn's statement "is a gross distortion," because Herbert never brought up Corroon's religion or made reference to Catholic schools.
"Gov. Herbert believes that the blatant political maneuvering of the Corroon campaign — and the potential community divisiveness that it may cause — is reprehensible and ought to be stopped immediately," Herbert's campaign spokesman, Don Olsen, said.
But Glenn said it's "disingenuous" for the Herbert campaign to suggest the governor wasn't talking about Catholic schools when he criticized Corroon. "They know which school he sends his kids to," Glenn said. "I just find a statement of that kind from him to be really troubling."
Corroon's campaign spokeswoman, Stella Thurkill, said the statement from Glenn was just one of "many, many votes of confidence and support."
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