Hatch challenger to speak at UVSC for Demos club

OREM — The College Democrats club at Utah Valley State College will host a town hall meeting with the founder of XMission, who is running for U.S. Senate against Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Pete Ashdown will be on campus Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Sorensen Student Center, Room 213B. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Ashdown, 39, is from Bountiful and announced his candidacy in May 2005. He is the only Democrat currently running for his party's nomination to challenge Hatch. Hatch has served in the Senate for 30 years.

Ashdown earned an associate's degree from Salt Lake Community College before transferring to the University of Utah, where he studied computer science. In 1993 Ashdown founded XMission, a local Internet-service provider.

The College Democrats club is in its first year on the UVSC campus, providing a platform for students and a forum for discussion on political issues.