Rep. Mel Brown battling major challenge in House

PARK CITY — Every Utah legislative race is different, but the politics playing out in Park City, Morgan and Coalville shine a light on Republican intra-party battles this year.

Rep. Mel Brown, a former House speaker, is fighting for his political life. He's challenged in House District 53 by Jon Hellander, who describes himself as more to the right politically than Brown.

Hellander, a general contractor who also sells and installs garage doors, maintains that Brown does not represent the views of most of the district, which includes both liberal areas, like Park City, and conservative enclaves, like Morgan and rural Summit and Rich counties. Hellander, 42, says he was not recruited by tea party supporters to challenge Brown, adding that friends and neighbors asked him to run because he was "honest and had integrity."

Hellander got 57.9 percent of the House 53 delegate vote May 8, nearly eliminating Brown, 72, in the state GOP convention. A candidate needs 60 percent of the vote to win the nomination outright and avoid a June 22 primary.

Brown stayed alive by just two votes.

"We were both surprised," Brown said, Brown because he thought he would do better. Hellander thought he would eliminate Brown in the convention.

"Your voting record is a report card," Hellander said. And all residents need to know about Brown "is found there. He doesn't (vote) as our people want."

Like a number of legislative Republicans, Brown wonders what has happened to the grassroots GOP this year.

"No question the political atmosphere has changed," he said. "A number of new groups have come in a lot of places; those old standby delegates (elected every two years) were not elected this year. It's clearly not business as usual."

Brown doesn't consider himself a moderate but a conservative with a solid voting record. He recalls that in the 1980s and 1990s (when he represented a Midvale district) he was a founding member and leader of the old Cowboy Caucus, a group of conservative House members who pushed state rights and pro-public land development issues.

Among other things, Brown reworked state public land development leading to millions of dollars more for public schools.

Today, Brown says he's been effective in killing efforts at statewide capital equalization for local school district buildings, which, if it happens, will mean "huge financial losses" for property-rich school districts like Park City.