GOP entrepreneur throws his hat in U.S. Senate ring

WEST JORDAN — Standing among mobile homes where he was raised, millionaire entrepreneur Tim Bridgewater broke into tears remembering his late, hard-working stepfather, and then announced he is running for the U.S. Senate to represent people like his father.

"He just worked hard every day. He got up at 5 a.m. to fix Caterpillars" as a diesel mechanic, Bridgewater, a Republican, said Thursday. "He got mad at me sometimes and said Republicans don't represent the working man anymore."

"He's the kind of person I want to represent," Bridgewater said. And glancing at former neighbors standing by him, he told the media. "I want to represent people from this neighborhood and from places that feel detached from Washington, D.C."

Bridgewater joins a crowded field challenging Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah. Other Republicans already running include Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, businesswoman Cherilyn Eagar and small-business man James Russell Williams III. Democrat Sam Granato also is in the race.

Bridgewater is probably best known for his 2002 U.S. House campaign. He won 57 percent of delegate votes at the state GOP convention, but lost a close GOP primary to John Swallow, who in turn lost the general election to Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

Bridgewater, 48, speaking in a voice that he says sounds like McGruff the Crime Dog, said he decided to challenge Bennett "because I think 18 years in the Senate is long enough."

"I think that spending too much time in Washington can distort your view of the world," he said.

Bridgewater said he is challenging Bennett "because Washington, D.C., is a train wreck. They seem to have lost all sense of reason, growing government programs with reckless abandon, spending this country into oblivion and strapping future generations with crippling debt."

He said he has spent the past several months talking to delegates and voters around the state, and found support — including some remaining from his old House race — that leads him to believe he will win.

Bridgewater said he expects to spend "a few hundred thousand dollars" between now and the May 8 state GOP convention, and expects to provide about half of that himself. He is an entrepreneur who helps raise capital for small businesses, and consults on their management.

He said he knows Bennett will raise more money, "But Utahns … aren't buying the snake oil from Washington anymore, and all the money in D.C. can't buy back the trust of the voters."

Bridgewater said improving the economy is also a driving force behind his decision to run.