Walker selects McKeachnie as running mate

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Olene Walker on Tuesday announced that current Lt. Gov. Gayle McKeachnie will be her running mate in her bid for a full term.

Walker hailed McKeachnie's understanding of constitutional, water, energy and public land issues as "unexcelled."

"I think it will make a difference to every county in this state" that McKeachnie is her running mate, she said.

McKeachnie thanked Walker for her praise.

"It's not often you get to hear your funeral speech before your time," he joked during a press conference at the governor's new temporary office in the State Office Building, a move necessitated by remodeling work at the Capitol.

Walker, the former lieutenant governor, selected McKeachnie to replace her when she succeeded former Gov. Mike Leavitt in November.

Walker announced in March she would seek a full term in office, but McKeachnie had been undecided whether he would continue in public office.

McKeachnie, a partner in a Vernal law firm, said he had been in a "dither" about whether to seek a full term, but said the ultimate decision was his alone and he was not pressured by Walker.

"She didn't haul me in here, no," he said.

McKeachnie was accompanied at Tuesday's announcement by his wife, Kathlene, who said the McKeachnie family was accustomed to seeing her husband "do lots of great and wonderful things."

"We said, 'Dad, go for it,' " she said.

McKeachnie, 60, is the current chairman of Utah State University's Board of Trustees.

McKeachnie represented Vernal in the Utah House from 1978-1986, serving as the majority whip in 1985 and 1986.

He was appointed in 1987 by then-Gov. Norm Bangerter to the state's Constitutional Revision Commission, a panel of attorneys, judges and legislators that advises the governor and lawmakers on proposed changes to the state Constitution. He served there for 12 years, including 10 as its chairman.

The McKeachnies, who have seven children and 19 grandchildren, own a horse farm in Vernal and also rent an apartment in Salt Lake City. McKeachnie has practiced law in both cities.