New Staff and a Day of Meeting the Voters

The schedule for yesterday required traveling from Box Elder to Salt Lake Counties on a non-stop tour from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Form a parade, to two speaking engagements, to the Avenues Street Fair, to the Greek Festival and ending at the U of U football game. Despite the, at times, difficult logistics, the day was a total success, thanks to my amazing campaign team!

With me throughout the day was my Campaign Manager Maryann Martindale and Deputy Manager Miguel Gallegos. Maryann and Miguel are a formidable duo with long resumes of local, state, and national campaign experience. We were also joined by one of our University of Utah interns--an amazing young woman interested in both politics and the law--and her adorable son.

Miguel was the first on the ground, arriving at my home at 7:00a.m. with a To Do list already half completed. He and I traveled to Brigham City for the Peach Days Parade, followed by our intern and her son. We were joined at the parade by Miguel's cousin and her three daughters. All were enthusiastic participants, handing out stickers, buttons, and candy.

However, we only had an hour to get from Brigham City to the Salt Lake City for the next engagement, the Women's Democratic Club luncheon where I was scheduled to speak. Parade attire and wind blown hair were not on the luncheon agenda, so Miguel scheduled a quick stop for a clothing change and hair and makeup redo.

We made the luncheon with about 90 seconds to spare before I was to speak. Fortunately, Maryann was already at the luncheon updating the leaders on our estimated time of arrival. With her was Tracy, an amazing volunteer who had arranged the array of brochures, envelopes, buttons, and signs and provided info to anyone who was interested. Tracy met me at the door, directed me to my seat and ensured that my missed lunch was packed and ready to go when I left the meeting.

We left moments after my speech to head to a meeting with UEA leaders. Maryann conducted the logistics for this event while Miguel headed off to meet up with another staffer, Chris Fleming, to get signs for the U of U game.

After another clothing change, Maryann and I headed for brief stints at the Avenues Street Fair and Greek Festival. Time with Maryann is well spent--she has a deep understanding of both state and national politics and is a voice of reason and experience on campaign strategy.

After meeting and greeting at the festivals, we headed to the U to be greeted by a sea of Jean Welch Hill campaign signs and join Miguel to meet the throngs heading into the game.

I am a U alumn and have enjoyed season tickets to the football games since my time as a student. Standing on the route to the game, I met so many friends I have not seen in ages--it helped keep my energy up after a long day of campaigning.

But fatigue finally hit when I joined my husband and two of my sons in our seats for the game. I missed them throughout the day and it was a relief to jsut sit down with them and watch a great game.

Many thanks to Maryann, Miguel, Jayme, Tracy, and Chris for a smooth, successful, and exhausting day!