Brigham mayor joins Lampropoulos ticket

He talked to a couple of men about the job but decided months ago on a woman.

The fact that Brigham City Mayor Lou Ann Christensen is also from northern Utah — home to three of his gubernatorial challengers — didn't weigh much in his choice, Fred Lampropoulos said Wednesday in formally announcing Christensen as his lieutenant governor running mate.

"But I was looking for someone from rural Utah," he said. And having a man and woman on the ticket "gives balance" that Utahns will appreciate, he added. In recent gubernatorial elections, the lead candidates have balanced their tickets with a running mate from the opposite sex.

Lampropoulos declined to name the men he talked to about joining his gubernatorial ticket. He said he first met Christensen a year ago at a Republican Party event and "she impressed me right away."

Several months ago he decided she'd be the one but didn't ask her directly until a week ago.

Lampropoulos is the second major candidate to announce his running mate. Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Olene Walker said current Lt. Gov. Gayle McKeachnie is running with her this year.

Christensen is in midterm and won't have to leave her mayoral post to run. If she and Lampropoulos win, she'll have to step down as mayor to become lieutenant governor next January.

Christensen, who turned 53 today, said she brings to the ticket not only connections to rural Utah and to local government's problems but will be an added asset to Lampropoulos' main campaign goal: more economic development for Utah.

Lampropoulos "has a proven record" of creating jobs, said Christensen. Lampropoulos, a millionaire through his ownership in Merit Medical, a New York Stock Exchange publicly traded firm housed in West Jordan, touts his business acumen.

"I've created thousands of jobs" in Utah and elsewhere, said Lampropoulos. And a vibrant economy, and increasing tax dollars for education and other state needs, "all starts with a job."

Christensen served on the Brigham City Council for six years before winning the mayor's post. She and her doctor husband are the parents of six children.

Christensen chairs the Olene Walker Housing Trust Fund, a state fund created by Walker to assist construction of low- income housing when Walker served in the Legislature. Ironically, Lampropoulos is one of eight GOP challengers to Walker this year.

Christensen has served on a number of local boards and commissions, including the Utah League of Cities and Towns.

She received a bachelor's degree in communications from Brigham Young University and has worked in employee training for both Hercules Aerospace and Morton Thiokol.

Should the Lampropoulos/Christensen ticket win the governorship, "we will help business flourish" in Utah, she said during a press conference in the Grand America Hotel. "We will move this state forward and offer fresh ideas."

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