Mayor Peter Corroon is setting out with $300K war chest

Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon — who has confirmed he's a candidate in this year's gubernatorial race — called out GOP Gov. Gary Herbert on Sunday for what he said is the governor's failure to take the lead on some of Utah's biggest issues.

Even before his official announcement, expected Tuesday, Corroon is drawing contrasts between Herbert's approach to running the state and how he would, as governor, address critical policy matters.

"I think there are a lot of things that we could be doing differently," Corroon said. "I think Gary Herbert has not taken strong leadership roles on strong issues like high-level radioactive or foreign waste coming into the state of Utah, and also on the Snake Valley issue where Las Vegas is trying to take water away from the state."

Corroon also criticized current and past state Republican leaders for a legacy of slashing funding for education.

"Our state leaders have talked about education as their No. 1 priority for decades and Utah is falling in national standards," Corroon said. "They've cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of our education system. If that's priority No. 1, I'd hate to see priorities 2 and 3."

On hearing the first campaign-like challenges out of the Corroon camp Sunday evening, Herbert's office released a statement laying the groundwork for further debate of the issues.

"While we understand the politics behind Mayor Corroon's statements, Gov. Herbert looks forward to discussing his successes on these important policy issues, and many others, over the course of the campaign," the statement said.

"Rather than engage in a debate of political rhetoric, the governor is focused on governing the state of Utah at this challenging time and preparing for the upcoming legislative session."

"Gov. Herbert holds economic development, energy, education, ethics and public lands and resources as the top issues facing the state and will continue to aggressively address these issues as governor."