Dear Editor:
As citizens of Sweetwater County, we have observed national political campaigns that seek not to enlighten voters and provide them with the necessary information to make an informed choice on election day, but instead resort to malicious and deceptive tactics that leave behind a trail of toxicity that corrodes public trust, undermines civic engagement, and attacks the very foundation of our republic.
Sadly, these groups have now turned their cynical eyes toward Sweetwater County.
We have been flooded with texts, mailers, and door hangers filled with inflammatory rhetoric, distortions, and outright lies.
These groups seek to manipulate us, assuming we are ignorant and can be influenced by their yellow-bellied attempts to use outside money to deceive the voters of our county.
They don’t know us, our strength, or our ability -- not to put too fine a point on it -- to recognize manure when we smell it. Our community is better than this.
As proud Republicans, we stand with every citizen of Sweetwater County who elected us to represent them in repudiating both these tactics as well as anyone who chooses to align themselves with this threat to our way of governance.
Sweetwater County will stand as a strong example of how elections cannot be won through lies and dark money, but instead through honest engagement, debate, and decency.
We will stand together as candidates, political parties, media, and citizens committed to political discourse that focuses on policies and ideas.
We will stand together as an example to our great state of politics done right, done locally, and done honestly.
Our commitment to integrity and civility in Sweetwater County will serve as an example to the rest of America of how things were done before buying elections became the goal.
We will remind them that the goal is serving your fellow citizens, not corporations or ideologues.
We are proud to be members of a community of citizens with the integrity and strength to oppose these malevolent groups and stand strong for what is right.
Join us in denouncing these deceptive tactics and support candidates who focus on real issues and honest, respectful, political discourse.
Sincerely,
Keaton West, Chairman
Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners
Island Richards, Commissioner
Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners
