Background
- professional career in mortgages and real-estate development
- adjunct professor at UVU
- previously taught capitalist principles and conversational English in Ukraine
- Consistently ranked most conservative member of the House
- legislator of the year by public charter school organization
- influenced tenor of the debate in this year’s senate race
- Has served 5 years in the legislature
- Founding member of the Patrick Henry Caucus with Ken Sumsion
- Was pushing state sovereignty and 10th amendment issues before it was cool
- two years ago his eminent domain bill got national attention
- was labeled ULTRA conservative for work to get ObamaCare before the U.S. Supreme court
- was laughed off stage at UVU for stating several years ago for statign flatly that the greatest danger we face as a nation was European-style Socialism
- Says that Utah is not fully a state because the Federal Government never honored it’s promise to return federal lands to us.
- We must absolutely fix entitlements and eliminate unconstitutional government programs in order to save this country from economic disaster
- Strict constitutionalist
- Says that other states are ready to join the fight for state’s rights
- Virginia wants to be able to drill off it’s coast but feds say no
- Texas will be out of EPA compliance just from the dust being stirred by winds across it’s prairies
- Supported Utah’s gold standard law
- Says we need a “Manhattan Project” style effort for energy independence
- killing burdensome regulations will essentially be a massive and instant tax cut encouraging development
- North Dakota has 2% unemployment, but they have access to all their natural resources, unlike Utah
- New rules should go back to Congress for approval instead of being passed by unaccountable federal agencies without oversight
- Believes a “living constitution” mindset should disqualify any Supreme Court nominee from eligibility to serve.
- Says he will try to build a coalition of like-minded junior Senators to sway the Senate leadership elections and influence the body to do away with out-dated seniority rules and to push for reform.
Pros
- The fact that Chris Herrod has refrained from participatign in or encouraging the negative campaigning that’s been all the rage in this Senate race, he’s demonstrated a respect for Utah and an understanding of the unique sensibilities of Utah voters. He’s also demonstrated leadership and judgement that are requirements of a job at this level.
- As a proven state’s rights conservative and strict constitutionalist, Herrod will be an effective voice for Utah in the U.S. Senate
Cons
- Chris is strong on state issues, but less so on national economic policy issues which are going to be center stage over the next few years. His strict constitutional conservatism will serve as an excellent compass, but he will enter the office with fewer arrows in his debate quiver when it comes to tax and entitlement policy.
- Although Chris believes he will be able to assemble a coalition of like-minded junior Senators to further his cause, it is as likely that he will be frustrated with the existing power structure in Washington and will find that the diverse and strong views of Senators form other states (even within his own party) will be hard to sway.
Conclusion
Chris Herrod is refreshing in his humility and statesmanship. His strong conservatism cannot be argued and there is no question he will continue to be an asset to the nation in whatever capacity he chooses to serve. It can be argued however that his view of political life in the US Senate, which is shaped by his experience in the Republican dominated Utah state legislature, is a bit naive (Chris would say hopeful and optimistic).
Herrod’s more localized knowledge of economic policy is also a source of concern, albeit one easily be remedied by a staffer with deep background in economic policy analysis. The only danger here is that if Herrod chooses the wrong advisers, he could easily be nudged into supporting economic policies that will turn out to be counterproductive. The counter-intuitive realm of tax policy is a perfect example.