Ashdown joins board of anti-poverty group

A former candidate for U.S. Senate, whose campaign focused on poverty issues, has joined the board of one of the state's oldest poverty research organizations.

Utah Issues announced Wednesday that Pete Ashdown, president of locally owned Internet service provider XMission, has joined the organization's board of directors. Ashdown ran against Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, last November. During the campaign, he raised money for local charitable organizations focused on helping the homeless and the poor.

Utah Issues, a 33-year-old statewide nonprofit organization, recently recast itself as "the center to eliminate poverty." Its efforts focus on the areas of housing, health care, homelessness, public assistance, community development, economic opportunity, budget, and tax policy and research.