Horiuchi to run for re-election

TAYLORSVILLE — Salt Lake County Councilman Randy Horiuchi isn't ready to take a timeout from the County Council just yet — instead, he's gearing up for another inning.

Clad in a Utah Jazz uniform and sneakers to drive his message home, the 16-year council veteran announced Tuesday his plans to run for re-election. Why the gimmick? Because he's "got game," Horiuchi says.

Though Horiuchi is serious about his campaign, he says his campaign slogan "Horiuchi: He's Got Game" is more of a reflection of his belief that politics should be fun. He says his "game" comes from his experience working with the council and with local leaders.

"I believe the experience I bring to the office is pretty vast," Horiuchi said. "The county is a complicated place. One day you deal with hazardous waste in the landfill, clean air warnings, a disaster, library fines and a public health epidemic. The next day it could be jail overcrowding and prosecution of a major murder case. ... It's a big, complicated county, and someone has to deal with it."

Horiuchi said he wouldn't be running for re-election this year if he didn't think it is particularly important to have an at-large councilman in office over the next six years who already has experience managing the county.

So far, no opponents to Horiuchi have yet entered the race.

About 30 local leaders, including Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall and former Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman, joined Horiuchi at the county recreation facility in Taylorsville to show their support for the announcement.

"If there's a friend we have in the Salt Lake County Council, it's Randy Horiuchi," Dolan said. "The county could do no better than if we could re-elect Randy Horiuchi. I love him. He's my buddy."

Horiuchi has been elected to serve in the county four times, starting in 1990 as a county commissioner. Horiuchi, a Democrat, didn't run for re-election in 1998, but when the county council was organized in 2000, Horiuchi was elected to a two-year seat, then re-elected for a six-year term.

Horiuchi says he anticipates that if he is re-elected this November, it will be his last term.

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