Dear Governor DeSantis, these aren't your friends
November 14, 2022 87 Elected officials in Utah did a press release where they called on you to form an exploratory committee for President of the United States in 2024. I found multiple aspects of the release to be very peculiar. The activities and positions of many of the signers are radically inconsistent with policies and positions you have publicly espoused. The timing of the release being on the eve of Trump's big announcement. As well as the manner and raw political calculus of the content. I can't help but question the sincerity of the signers. I'm not seeing any major support for the policies you have implemented in Florida from the signers. In fact, anyone can objectively see where many of the signers have made efforts to prevent any replication of what they refer to as your "proven track record" here in Utah. It's clear this has less to do with you as a candidate for president and more to do with President Trump and his candidacy. If you were to run and get the GOP nomination I doubt there would be any major support from this group over any democrat candidate. Much less if you were to become president and policies you would implement nationally.
The initial statement is made from state senators Dan McCay, Todd Weiler and Mike McKell. This struck me as odd, specifically they're positions and records on law and order in relation to your positions. Senator McCay has called for and put forth legislation to abolish capital punishment in Utah. Him and I have extremely incompatible views on justice. Contrast that with your calls for justice as governor to reform capital punishment where a majority of a jury can institute capital punishment rather than a unanimous jury. At one point Utah had some of the most liberal bail reform legislation in the entire country. After horrific examples of victims being victimized, many of them children, state lawmakers took action to repeal the legislation. To which Senators Weiler and McKell voted to keep the bail reform in place. The positions of these Senators are more in line with Andrew Gilium and Charlie Crist than they are your own. They are very much in favor of "soft on crime" policies as crime in Utah continues to skyrocket.
One of the first names I see under the signers is State Auditor John Dougall. Dougall is notorious in this state for what is considered either gross incompetence or a coverup regarding the TestUtah scandal. Dougall has a reputation for leaking information to attack local officials he doesn’t like to Utah’s far left press. He is one of the most seedy and incompetent elected officials in the state. The SEC is currently investigating a state sponsoring pump and dump scheme via no bid government contracts. A company, Co-Diagnostics, was peddling bogus covid tests at the height of the pandemic. Prior to the SEC investigation Dougall came out with a report finding no wrongdoing. Suspicions arise as to whether he's in collusion with the perpetrators or if he's just that incompetent. Dougall also called for the forcible removal of Trump in 2021, presumably while binge watching CNN for days on end. Until very recently Dougall hasn't had a very high opinion of you. Responding Facebook post from our GOP Party Vice Chair, Jordan Hess, when speculating about a DeSantis 2024 run he commented "Can we do better?" Dougall isn't someone who belongs in public office and has demonstrated over and over the last thing he's concerned with is the good of Utahns. I trust Charles Manson with a chainsaw more than I trust Dougalls name here as being anything more than political positioning to counter a populist movement in the GOP.
The GOP had a shining star in this year’s elections. Florida's election reforms in recent years are a model for the nation. It was very clear the longer it took to count votes the worse conservative candidates did. These dubious election mechanics are enabled by mass mail in ballots. Sometimes referred to as "fortifying" by leftists. In Utah ballots are mailed to everyone on the voter rolls (which are terrible) the dead get ballots, minors, people who have moved, duplicate ballots. In primary elections democrats have been given republican ballots and have been sent exclusively to registered democrats on multiple occasions. The much lauded regime talking point of signature verification is bogus for a myriad of reasons. One county sent out ballots without a place for signatures. It's extremely sketchy and fraught with suspicion. Utah is one of the worst states for election integrity. In 2020 GOP party resources were used to attack President Trump and contradict his positions on mass mail in voting. Utah's political class is eager to shut down anyone who states Utah's elections are anything but safe and fair. Ken Ivory who has served as a house rep previously has a seat once occupied by Steve Christiansen a house rep who was forced to resign after the regime media, political class made it impossible for him to continue. Amelia Powers Gardner is the biggest advocate of universal vote by mail and ranked choice voting on the planet. Gardner participated in a hit piece put out by the Washington Post used to attack president Trump on the subject. Senator McKell was present when our Lieutenant Governor laughed about a well known circumstance of voter fraud. If there was an effort by the signers on this list to replicate the security, confidence, and efficiency of Florida's elections I wouldn't doubt the sincerity of wanting to see you as President. Instead the practice of mass mail in voting is one of Utah's top exports. I know of few elected officials opposing this practice openly speaking about, none of them are on this list.
When most of America was learning about the exceptionalism of Ron DeSantis it was when you boldly stood up to the unconstitutional COVID measures the rest of the country was forced to live under. So when I saw certain names on this list I had to take a second look. Tamara Tran censured Mayor Katy Witt for trying to host a protest event during the COVID lockdowns. Tran even threatened to turn on the sprinklers if the mayor were to try. It was a disgusting establishment effort to ensure any political dissent in an election year was suppressed. Now Governor Spencer Cox was over Utah's COVID task force. Previous protest events were publicly calling it our then Lieutenant Governor Cox and his unconstitutional policies. Many of Governor Cox’s supporters or signers here and given the radical differences between your two governorships. It’s hard to reconcile them supporting you and him. On one of your visits to Utah, Governor Cox went out of his way to tweet how awful he thought Florida was doing by pushing sloppy stats on his twitter account (he’s known for deleting tweets).
Senator Weiler mocked people who opposed the restrictions referencing a certain Shrek villian. I know of a young lady who couldn't visit her dying grandfather and reached out to her House Representative Brady Brammer to no avail. I very much doubt these signers are interested in a continuation of Florida's COVID policies nationwide. The contrast highlights their horrific abuses in the name of protecting people from COVID.
Amiee Winder Newton and her creepy weird toadie, Laurie Stringham, on the Salt Lake City Council voted to mask children this year in 2022. They were reported to not obey their own draconian mandate but wanted to see children masked in order to go to school. This isn’t out of character. Aimee Winder Newton is notorious for being an establishment thug. She actively vilifies grassroots conservatives and pushes establishment agendas to further advance the positions of her donors.
The timing of the letter, the eve of Trump’s announcement, makes it very clear what this is about. The raw political calculus of it is obvious.It leaves no doubt about everyone who put their name on this without exception. It’s a wink and nod to their friends and establishment donors ``we're attacking Trump'' but a cushion to say they asked you to run before Trump announced to their consituents. This is one of the most transparent elements of the press release. It made it clear it has little to do with you or your candidacy and everything to do with President Trump. Mike Kennedy, now a state senator, is working to distance himself from his supporters in a failed bid against Romney in 2018, by curb stomping them. Mike Kennedy’s support in 2018 was almost entirely MAGA. Trump has done more for Utah than any President since Millard Fillmore and we named a county and a capital after him. It's telling. It instantiates my fears they will attack and betray you as they have President Trump.
It’s clear given the body of the signers and the timing of this release, this has nothing to do with seeing you as President. It has everything to do with seeing the GOP establishment freed from the MAGA base. Many of the signers actively tried to get Evan McMullin to take Utah's electoral votes to split the election for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Many of them actively campaigned with Romney, who lied and was dishonest in his dealings with the people of Utah. You are being used as a heat sink by some extremely dangerous and manipulative people. I hope they do better in the future.
Governor DeSantis, these are not your friends.
Wishing you, your family, the state of Florida and all the signers of the press release a Merry Christmas,
David Crandall Utah's most detested provocateur and internet troll. makeutahgreatagain.org