Kane County Commission Races Heat Up As Commissioner Andy Gant Re-enters Race
– By Josh Warburton –
More than a month after a well-known local entered the race for Kane County Commission Seat B, sitting Commissioner Andy Gant, who lost to newcomer Patty Kubeja in the Republican Primary election, filed to run as a write-in just before the deadline for his current position, Seat A.
Kane County Commission Seat A Race
Patty Kubeja, who advertised with The Independent for her campaign during the primary, beat sitting Commissioner Gant in the Republican Primary race for Commission Seat A. I mention Kubeja’s advertising as a way of disclosure. This was a major shock to many in Kane County as the Republican Caucus had Gant as the preferred candidate among county delegates…similarly Michael East bested Meyeres in the caucus, only for the primary to end up with the opposite results. No Democrat or other party candidate filed for Commission Seat A. Just after Gant lost the primary race, the Southern Utah News (SUN) announced on their front page that Gant had purchased the long-running Kanab, Utah newspaper. Along with that announcement, it was announced that Gant’s son Ty has been promoted to be the paper’s new editor. Although I don’t personally have any reason to question the coverage from the SUN on the commission races and specifically on coverage of Gant, I think many will automatically question its integrity, and for that reason, I am taking the time to write up this piece for the public good of having a (somewhat neutral) third party. I should mention that I don’t know Andy Gant very well compared with some of the candidates in this cycle, as I’ve just spoken with him several times. I rang him a couple of weeks ago and had an off-the-record chat about these races, his loss in the primary, his acquisition of the SUN, and life in general. At the time, I hadn’t planned to write anything about these races…and he said he didn’t plan to run as a write-in.
So when I called him today, I put my reporter hat on and asked him why he changed his mind and decided to run. I reached him, and he was more than happy to talk to me on the record. In response to my question, he stated, “Well, (A) – I think I’m the best person for the job because of things I, and only I, am working on, and (B) – I think I’m the better candidate in this race. I have nothing negative to say about my competition; I just want to talk about the great things I’ve been a part of during my four years on the Commission. I haven’t had a chance to tell the whole story as I’ve been trying to take the high road. I think this is the first time a smear campaign has worked here in Kane County, and traditionally that wouldn’t have worked. Their voices were louder, but since that time, I’ve decided I need to use my voice and speak up for what I believe in.” — He actually mentioned that when we had spoken a couple of weeks ago, and I asked him why he wouldn’t run as a write-in if he thought he was the best person for the job, and it gave him pause. He also said he acknowledges that anything coming from the SUN on the race would likely be under serious scrutiny, and rightly so, but also said he would absolutely not use his ownership of the SUN to an unfair advantage. “I don’t oversee the editorial, but as you may have noticed, we’ve run letters to the editor in support of basically every candidate, and that won’t change one bit.” He added, “The change in my mind is that I’m going to make sure everyone knows what I’ve done as a commissioner. I’ve got nothing to hide.”
Kane County Commission Seat B Race
In late June, Camille Johnson Taylor entered the race for Kane County Commission Seat B, which upended what would otherwise be a predictable election of the Republican nominee, Kanab Council-member Celeste Meyeres. It has also given new life to the third candidate in the race, Democrat Pat Horning. Before I go into how this majorly changes this race, let me give you a bit of my history with the candidates for context.
In the interest of disclosure, I should mention up front that I know all the candidates in the upcoming Kane County Commission races. Two of them I’ve known for over five years, and three I’ve much more recently gotten to know. I met Camille Johnson, now Camille Johnson Taylor, at least as far back as 2016, which was coincidentally around the time I was running for Washington County Commissioner. At the time, she was the assistant to the Kane County Tourism Director Ken Gotsenberg, the position she now holds. She was my point of contact for marketing buys, and although these days much of that she delegates, I still see her quite regularly both for work and out around town…something I love about Kanab being such a small town. I have sat and talked to her a couple of times about her campaign, even predicted there might be some mud slinging…I’m sad to say I was right. Johnson Taylor is the latest entrant to the race for Commission Seat B as a Republican write-in candidate and under the name Camille Johnson to make it easy for folks to write.
Celeste Meyeres and I have almost as long of a history. I got to know her well when I was on the Kanab Arts Board from 2017 through 2019, the year I served as the Chair. Meyeres became the liaison to the City, overseeing and reporting back what the Board did with the allocation the Board gets from the city each year. In late 2019/early 2020, Meyeres and I led the effort in Kane County on the Tax Referendum. Our relationship took a turn in 2020 when she flaunted Covid protocols and recommendations, publicly commenting misinformation on a post of mine “questioning” if masks might be actually causing Covid. As a public official, I felt it was irresponsible to make such statements, and I wrote an article saying as much. I have seen her since, and she is cordial and professional, even bringing me a vegan cheesecake that Glazier’s sometimes carries (she and I are both vegan, and vegans tend to watch out for each other). I congratulated her on her primary victory but have otherwise not really talked to her about her campaign. Meyeres won the Republican primary election against another Kanab council member Michael East for Commission Seat B.
I met Pat Horning officially in the last few months as he’s been campaigning, but we have quite a few mutual friends. So while I don’t know him well, I have nothing but good things to say about the interaction we have had. His experience as the former Fire Chief in Big Water is what most seem to know him for. Again, in the interest of disclosure, I have spoken to Horning more than once about his underdog campaign, and I’ve given him my take on the race, as I have Johnson Taylor. He’s running as a Democrat for Commission Seat B.
Here’s my analysis on Seat B: When I state that this race. Is “heating up” it’s not only because Johnson Taylor’s entrance in the race upends Meyeres’ presumptive win in November, it also increases Pat Horning’s chances. A Democrat has not won a county-wide election in Kane in decades, and while Horning would have to pull off a major upset, basic math says his chances are better with Johnson Taylor in the race than not. Some I’ve spoken to now think Johnson Taylor is the presumptive leader with her public presence, connections, family history, etc. in Kane County. Party loyalists with conservative views on institutions will likely stick behind Meyeres as the GOP nominee. And simple math says that Horning has some increased chance of winning. If Horning were to attract enough Republicans and Independents and shore up the Democrats, he might crack 30%, a bit of a ceiling for Dems in prior races in Kane County. Biden got 26% in 2020; could Horning attract the 9% or so more and get to the 35% minimum needed to win? Can Johnson Taylor overcome the difficulties of being a write-in? Will Meyeres be able to shore up her support with endorsements, etc., as she is attempting? Frankly, it’s a really hard race to predict.
As for Seat A, I think it’s a toss-up too. Gant faces an uphill struggle as any write-in candidate does, incumbent or not. He’ll have to prove to the public that he has earned the right to keep his job and that he has served the citizens’ best interests. Kubeja’s job will be to show she has what it takes to be a better Commissioner than Gant, something she seems to have done in the primary with her visible campaigning.
Note: This report was written as a courtesy to Kane County voters since I’m sure many will question any coverage from SUN on these races. I’d much rather be drawing up plans for a new patio addition I want to build or listening to political podcasts, but I feel like the public deserves to know what’s happening in our local races, and these ones, in particular, are important, in my humble opinion. I’ll likely write a follow-up if warranted.
