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Ellis beats Walker after bitter state treasurer campaign

Congratulations to Mr. Ellis and a well-deserved raspberry to Republican leadership who thought they could co-opt the Treasurer's Office by putting in one of their own. The Treasurer's Office should be independent of the Legislature - it's healthier for all of us. Mr. Ellis has shown he can stand up to legislators and I look forward to him continuing that trend.

Of course Walker will not file his complaint now; his complaint was entirely made up. As far as smears, Walker's adds and mailers did plenty of smearing of a good, highly qualified man and distorted the job description of the office Walker was seeking. I got not one mailer from Ellis but I still knew who was the qualified candidate and who was the legislature's puppet just by reading Walkers. Besides it was nice of him to feature two pictures of Ellis on a mailer, including a color shot. I think that helped voters identify his opponent and make up their minds. Thank goodness voters are not always easily fooled!

Yes, this had to do with dirty politics---Walker's.

Kudos to Ellis for laying a smackdown on Walker. Ellis had no reason to allege that Walker attempted to make the bribe unless it was true. Its nice to know that someone, somewhere in this state has the guts to stare down the corrupt members of the legislature. Due to the fact that my integrity is less than Ellis's, I want to notify Walker that if he offers me a job with a 50% raise I will drop out of any election he wants. Now that Ellis is almost sure to win office in November I wish him good luck and happy, successful investing.

Legislative leadership who supported Walker would be wise to not seek revenge on Ellis for beating their boy in this race. The voters are watching. Congratulations Ellis!

Ellis and his supporters showed no class throughout the election as they name called and slung mud at Walker. It's sad to see by the comments above that they can't win with class either.

Walker suffers from disassociation if he really believes that his campaign was a model for integrity. Slick mailers and powerful friends didn't sway the voters. I'm sure Walker will land a cake job somewhere through the largesse of his GOP buddies which means some truly deserving pandering company will get the benefit of his "expertise."

I am pleased that Richard won. It was truly odd to see all of Mark's big-name supporters make their statements at the state convention. I mean, we had Rob Bishop get up and say: "I've known Mark for a long time, he's a personal friend. . ." No one spoke about his credentials. They all just said he was a cool guy. Mark should run for State Cool Guy.

"I think it's proof of why people like to run a dirty campaign. They work," Walker said. "A lot of people told to me go negative and stuff, but that wasn't in me."

This from the guy who didn't once talk about his qualifications (his degree in political science wasn't even listed on his website). He talked gay marriage, tax cuts, spending limitations, and a bunch of other stuff that had nothing to do with his office. He smeared Ellis and the go-between Empey. Completely smeared them. His glossy brochures and mailers were all about smearing Ellis. How can he say it wasn't in him to go negative? What planet does he live on?

And in response to Hmmmm.... is it "slinging mud" if someone lies repeatedly and you point it out? Or if someone is not constitutionally eligible to run for office, and you say it? Or if someone has zero qualifications for the job they apply for and you mention it?

The truth hurts when it's not on your side. It never was for Walker.

Not only were the folks clearly voting against Walker's complete lack of experience and the chance that he tried to buy off Ellis, but I think more importantly they are cleary showing fatigue with the Rupublican party cabal of Curtis, Valentine their cronies who backed Walker, knowing he'd be their lap dog in the Treasure's office. If I were Greg Curtis, I'd be getting nervous about the Nov elections. Me thinks his reign will soon end. People have had enough of his type of slimy politics. Finally.

Congratulations Ellis!!!

It is refreshing to see that money and political insiders do not decide everything in Utah.

Honesty, integrity and "A" financial ratings are hallmarks we will continue to expect from the Treasurer's office.

I will bet you lunch that the corrupt, vindictive, members of the state legislature try to cut the salary of the state treasurer if Ellis gets elected in November. If they are unable to cut his salary they will cut his office's budget. Any takers?

Mark,
Get a clue. Your accusations of dirty campaigning had NOTHING to do with your resounding defeat. Your defeat had everything to do with your inexperience, made up credentials, and lack of knowledge about the position you were seeking.

All one had to do was listen to what you said and what Ellis said and it was pretty obvious who was qualified for this position and who was not.

Oh, yeah, and the fact that all of the party leadership endorsed you, despite your lack of qualifications, made most of us very suspicious also.

Congratulations to Richard Ellis.

Congratulations to Ricahrd Ellis on a wonderful job. I have nothing but respect for someone who stands up for the truth at any cost. Just think of how easy it would have been to accept walkers offer.
Richard is an honest man and stood up to the legislature, and just an FYI for them, Curtis, Valentine and Hughes you had better hang on tight because the voters can see right thru your attempt to add more power to your "mafia". I encourage all voters to vote the corruption out of office in November.

Now that the election is over, I hope the investigation Mr. Ellis called for goes forward. I don't think it's going to find him to be an innocent bystander in all this.

Ellis's last minute requests for an investigation (Of events Ellis knew about for months but didn't divulge anything about till too late) got a lot of press coverage in the last 2 weeks of the campaign and put a dark clowd of suspicion over his opponent and may have been the difference.

We will never know now if he was elected as a knee-jerk reaction to the reported scandal or if voters really wanted "Experience" as the DMN claims.

This was dirty politics by both men if you ask me.

I'm glad to see that voters understood the role of the state treasurer and voted for the most qualified candidate.

But I do feel bad for Mr. Walker. Hope he gets a job soon; he's got kids to feed.

I was glad to see this. When it came to being Treasurer Walker was all hat and no cattle...

How refreshing to see Mr. Ellis win...If I were Curtis, Valentine, Hughes, Lockhart, Dave Clark, Mark Shurtleff, and yes, even Rob Bishop, I would be lying low right about now...but don't worry boys, November is just around the corner, and we'll make sure you all get your just dues. As for Mark Walker, spill your guts, at least people might have some respect for you if you admit you got caught up in the talk, and show the good old boys club for what they are. The good old boys club could take a lesson in class from the likes of Norm and Olene. Thank God for them not being afraid to express their concern regarding the intimidation tactics of the republican leadership. It is past time to clean house.

After watching Walker on Take 2 Sunday it took me a while to get over him passing judgement on an individual who was not present to defend himself. If Walker couldn't keep his cool for a few minutes, I would have hated to see him having to defend or explain issues he was unfamiliar with to Wall Street executives. The creditability of the Treasurer's Office would have been in jeporady. As for Walker, he would be well advised to set the right example for his children, my mother always taught me that if you didn't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all. I guess that's why I can't say what I really am thinking.

Walker said, "A lot of people told me to go negative and stuff, but that wasn't in me."

So calling people "dirty", "slimey", and "unstable" is not negative? Bogus campaign fliers that misrepresent your opponents views is not negative?

Who are "a lot of people"? Curtis, Hughes and other henchmen?

What dirty tricks did he mean by "and stuff", or is that just a term or art he picked up in a poli sci class?