From Deseret News archives:

Paper: Romney team consulted with LDS leaders

Published: Thursday, Oct. 19, 2006 7:14 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Governor Mitt Romney's political team has quietly consulted with leaders of the Mormon Church to map out plans for a nationwide network of Mormon supporters to help Romney capture the presidency in 2008, according to interviews and written materials reflecting plans for the initiative.

Over the past two months, Romney's political operatives and church leaders have discussed building a grass-roots political organization using alumni chapters of Brigham Young University's business school around the country. More recently, representatives of BYU, which is run by the church, and Romney's political action committee have begun soliciting help from prominent Mormons, including a well-known author suggested by the governor, to build the program, which Romney advisers dubbed Mutual Values and Priorities, or MVP.

The president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley, has been made aware of the effort and expressed no opposition, the documents show, and at least one other top church official has played a more active role.

Church officials and Romney advisers downplayed the discussions. Church officials say they have a position of strict neutrality on political matters and are not supporting Romney's candidacy.

Story continues below
But documents indicate that Jeffrey R. Holland, one of 12 apostles who help lead the church worldwide, has handled the initiative for the Mormons and that he hosted a Sept. 19 meeting about it in his church office in Salt Lake City with Josh Romney, one of the governor's sons; Don Stirling, a paid consultant for the Commonwealth PAC, Romney's political action committee; and Kem Gardner, a prominent Salt Lake City developer who is one of Romney's biggest donors. Globe reporters observed Romney's representatives enter and leave chuch headquarters for the meeting.

Prior to the Sept. 19 meeting, Gardner had already met with Holland at least once to discuss the initiative, documents show.

Holland, a former BYU president, suggested using the alumni organization of the university's business school, the BYU Management Society, to build a network for Romney, according to the documents. Such a plan would give Romney an established infrastructure — the alumni group has 5,500 members in about 40 US chapters — for raising money and generating support.

Eight days later, Stirling, Spencer Zwick, a top political aide to Romney, and the governor's brother, Scott Romney, held a dinner at a private Salt Lake City club for other prominent Mormons, where they discussed the effort further. Among those invited were Steve Albrecht, associate dean of the BYU business school, the Marriott School of Management.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

previousnext

Latest comments

Citizens ethics initiative too demanding

Mr. Powell, anyone running against you who is even a little more comitted to...

Try to learn what you can about this family. Everything they are saying is...

3A: Juan Diego wins title

that catch was AMAZING!! people think it was luck but no matter what others...

Civilian trial for accused terrorist

This move alone illustrates the idiocy of Obama and Holder, and if not idocy...

Playing & playbooks

I want to see a monument to him at the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of...

Secularists and religious arguments

A secular world view is based on objective, testable reality. You can be...

"Freedom": 1:16p.m.: Yes the Catholic Church DOES have the right to take a...

You touched on the challenge briefly, george. The world may have 'ample' oil...

"Brad | 4:54 p.m. Nov. 21, 2009 needs to move on so Bronco can get someone...

They have been here for 10 years as visible residents. The government has...

Advertisements