Navajo candidate announces bid as Democrat for Hatch's seat
He's Navajo. He's Mormon. He's a Democrat. And he plans to challenge Sen. Orrin Hatch.
Meet James Singer, the 34-year-old who believes he can unseat the seven-term Utah Republican, who appears poised to seek re-election.
"Orrin Hatch has been in office longer than I've been alive," Singer joked.
Billing himself as a millennial's candidate — his campaign motto is "It's time for a new generation to represent Utahns" — Singer first thought about a political run during one of the handful of Salt Lake City rallies after President Donald Trump's inauguration in January. He declared to the crowd of 100 people that "in 2018 there should be native people running in every contest."
Singer followed his own call for action and may be the first Utah Navajo to run for U.S. Senate. He formally filed in mid-April and has raised $3,000 in donations.
Hatch at last report had $3.5 million in his campaign account.
Singer argues that Hatch has lost touch with his constituents, particularly overlooking those from tribal lands in the state — where Singer's grandparents live. The biggest indication of that, he said, is how Hatch and other members of Utah's all-Republican delegation reacted to former President Barack Obama's declaration of Bears Ears National Monument.
Their repeated calls to rescind the designation do not align with Native American wishes, Singer said.
At: http://www.sltrib.com/home/5231712-155/navajo-candidate-announces-bid-as-democrat