Senate hopeful names top aide

Pete Ashdown, a Democrat who says he is running for the U.S. Senate next year, announced this week he has hired a campaign manager.

Carla Wiese, an Ogden native, will help organize Ashdown's challenge to five-term U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in 2006.

This will be Wiese's largest campaign. She managed a state Senate race last year and has worked on several other Democratic campaigns, Ashdown said in a press release.

Wiese has worked for Day & Associates and Capstone Strategies on economic development for small cities and rural areas in Utah, Ashdown said. She is northern Utah coordinator for the state Democratic Party.

"We're excited to have someone with Carla's energy to lead the campaign" said Lisa Allcott, an Ashdown campaign consultant."Carla shares my vision for this campaign and, like me, wants to focus on rural support," Ashdown said.