It's Official

Cherilyn Bacon Eagar has formally announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Robert Bennett of Utah. Wrapping up a relatively brief exploratory period, today she spoke with a gathering of friends and other interested citizens and a few media at a local Marie Callendar's restaurant to share her decision to run, and her reasons for doing so.

On April 15 I attended the Tea Party held at the Federal Building in Salt Lake City. One of the speakers at this event was a woman whom I did not recognize, and I missed hearing her introduction. But as I listened to her words, I was moved.

A month later, I attended a rally at the Capitol Building in Salt Lake which marked the official formation of The Patrick Henry Caucus, a group of Utah legislators who will be working with other state legislators all over the country to apply 10th Amendment principles to reinforce States' Rights. This time, I heard the announcement of the speaker I had heard at the Tea Party the month before: Cherilyn Bacon Eagar. I still didn't know who she was, and I assumed she may be a Utah legislator who was there to support her peers in the formation of the Patrick Henry Caucus. Again, I was moved my her words, but even more, I was moved by her passion and sincerity. This is a woman who was not spewing empty political rhetoric. This woman was speaking from her heart.

I went home and looked her up on Facebook, and learned that she is not a politician. She is a small business owner who has been politically active in a variety of worthwhile causes and campaigns since the 1970's. I was impressed with her resume.

Many months ago, after having written countless emails to Sen. Bob Bennett regarding a variety of issues and more recently unhappily following his involvement in much of the financial undoing of our country, I decided I would not vote for Senator Bennett in the upcoming 2010 election. The problem was, who would I vote for? What other candidates would come forward, if any.

The first who declared in the same race was someone I briefly considered then dismissed. He was "more of the same". Been there, done that. Change for chance sake is futile. No, I would be watching for someone I knew would be willing to make hard choices and buck the system if need be.

After hearing Cherilyn speak at the Patrick Henry Caucus, I thought: she's the one! She's exactly the person we need in the Senate! The problem was, she wasn't a candidate. I sent her a message through Facebook and asked if she had ever considered running for the U.S. Senate. She wrote back that she really hadn't, but that recently several others had approached her as I had and she was going to be forming a committee to explore the possibility. I told her if she ran, she could count on my support with her campaign.

Today I was excited to be present as she made it official: Cherilyn Eagar is the latest candidate in what will be an interesting race for the U.S. Senate in Utah. As I have gotten to know her since our first Facebook exchange, I am more convinced that not only is she the person Utahns need to represent our state's interests and well as our country's interests in the Senate, she can win this election.