The Utah Democratic Party is raising questions about whether two Republican candidates for the state Legislature who work for the city of Ogden are legally able to run.

Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic party, said Monday he sent letters last month to federal authorities questioning whether the Hatch Act applies to the candidacies of Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner and the city's chief technology officer, Jay Brummett.

The federal act restricts political activity of state or local government employees "who work in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by federal loans or grants," according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which handles investigations regarding the act.

Both Greiner and Brummett said that wasn't the case. And the executive director of the Utah Republican Party, Jeff Hartley, said the Democrats "are clearly trying to make a political issue out of nothing."

Taylor, however, said he only wanted a clarification about the act from the counsel's office. "It's not intended to be a political football," he said. "That's not the reason for the question. It was intended to understand the law."

Greiner, who defeated Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber, in the primary to win the GOP nomination for the state Senate District 18 seat, said he had looked into whether the act might apply to him before filing for office.

"I don't think it's a big deal," Greiner said of the Democrats raising the issue. "None of my salary comes from federal grants and I don't administer any federal grants. ... I could be surprised, I suppose."

Brummett said none of his salary came from federal grants, either, nor does his department receive direct funding from the federal government. "I don't believe I'm prohibited from running for political office," he said, calling the inquiry "dirty politics at its lowest."

He said the issue surfaced only because his campaign against the incumbent in the House District 35 race, Rep. Mark Wheatley, D-Murray, is going well. "It sounds very good to say, 'My opponent is being investigated by the Office of Special Counsel,'" Brummett said.

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