Senator Ted Cruz visits Lehi to campaign for Chris Herrod for Congress

Hundreds turned out last Saturday, July 29th, to see United States Senator Ted Cruz at Entrata in Traverse Mountain. The former presidential candidate, who won 69% of the vote in the Republican presidential primary, visited Lehi to rally support for U.S. Congressional candidate Chris Herrod, who is running to fill the third Congressional district seat recently vacated by Jason Chaffetz.

The level of enthusiasm for Cruz was evident as a section of the spectators broke into chants of “Teddy, Teddy!” as he approached the dais. Playing to a responsive crowd, he struck chords which resonated to cheers and applause.

“It is July 29, 2017, and Hillary Clinton is not president of the United States!” he opened. “And Neil Gorsuch IS a justice on the Supreme Court!” After a few jests about the national news media’s response to the presidential election, he turned to more serious notes.

“We want to bring this country back from the brink,” he said. “This election matters not just for the state of Utah but for the entire country. I’m here encouraging the men and women of Utah to come out and vote for Chris Herrod for Congress.” Cruz said that Herrod, a former Utah state representative, helped lead his campaign in Utah, and that his record sets him apart in the primary race.

“Have you noticed none of the candidates stand up and say, ‘I’m a deal-making establishment moderate who believes nothing!’? None of them ever say that on the stump!

We need conservatives who will actually do what they say they will do.” He said Herrod’s record shows he fits that category.

As Cruz raised the issue of repealing Obamacare, three protestors rose to their feet and shouted, “Shame on you for voting to strip health care from sick people!” followed by a chant of “Shame on you!” The protestors were escorted out, where they joined a handful of others who had been holding protest signs on the sidewalk across from the building.

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Cruz concluded his remarks with his endorsement of Herrod, calling him a friend and “a strong conservative you can trust to keep his word and deliver.”

Herrod took the stage to describe his background of living and working in the former Soviet Union where he met his wife, who is Ukrainian, when he came to teach at a university in Ukraine in the early 90’s. He described his experience of going through Checkpoint Charlie and seeing the Iron Curtain and East Berlin as a student, of living in the former Soviet Union as a newlywed and dealing with socialized medicine, and being hauled into a Ukrainian police station and interrogated.

“We need to have more people that actually have experience with it. I promise I will go back and I will tell my story, I will tell my wife’s story.”

Herrod declared his commitment to reclaiming Utah’s public lands, protecting legal immigration while deterring illegal immigration, defending civil liberties and applying Constitutional principles of government in his decision-making.

Herrod is in a three-way primary with businessman Tanner Ainge and former Provo mayor John Curtis. Ballots have been delivered to voters and must be postmarked no later than August 14 to be counted in the vote-by-mail election.