Chris Herrod, Candidate for UT 3rd Congressional District

Hillary Koellner- “Chris, tell us a little bit about how you first got involved in politics and why?”

Chris Herrod-”I grew up when there were only three major news stations and I loved to watch the news and I grew up in a patriotic family. My father in the military and I lived across the street from one of the founders of the freedom festival. I was always surrounded with that, but the biggest single event that has kind of driven my political interests is when I was accepted to BYU at 16 in 1982 in the middle of the cold war and I got to travel to Europe. That left an impression to travel to internationally and get to live through that period of time, it really impacted me.”

Hillary Koellner- “How did your family react when you told them you made the decision to run for the 3rd congressional district seat?”

Chris Herrod- “Since I was young I got involved with politics I was county state delegate and my family knew that I had a great love for politics. When a spot opened because Jeff Alexander resigned, for me it was just a natural thing to volunteer. I don’t think my family was surprised.”

Hillary Koellner- “Do you think your family will be involved during the campaign?”

Chris Herrod- “Definitely, my wife grew up in the Soviet Union, she’s experienced socialism first hand and is absolutely frightened of the direction this country is going. When I served in the legislature, I brought my kids as much as I could, so they’ve been surrounded by politics. My youngest helped me run the Ted Cruz presidential campaign here in Utah, he’s hooked now, he loved it. For me it’s a family experience.”

Hillary Koellner- “Chris, through your time in the political field, how have you handled angry letter, hate mail, trolls, etc.?”

Chris Herrod- “I’ve had a death threat, on illegal immigration, I know my position on illegal immigration is the compassionate one. I was the first sponsor of the human trafficking bill in the state. For me I think that if you know what you’re doing is right, it’s much easier to take the criticism. I feel so strongly on my believes, for me socialism is not compassionate, I know that it doesn’t work. For me that’s the biggest thing, the constitutional principles and that the Constitution is the greatest inspiring document that there is in the world and for me it’s very easy to defend that. I stand up for what I believe in, for example on global warming, is the solution more damaging than the problem? I had 18 BYU professors against me for speaking out on this and against the policies that are being put in place, but those policies hurt the most the poor. Out of anyone in this race I think I’ve had the most name calling and threats, and that’s okay.”

Hillary Koellner- “Polls show most voters don’t think government works. What would you do to fix the underlying structures and systems that seem to be broken?”

Chris Herrod- “You can get back to the constitution, so for me it’s getting back to the core essentials. National defense is one of them to get us back to making sure we have the strongest military in the world.”

Hillary Koellner- “What is your biggest frustration?”

Chris Herrod- “I am a platform republican and one of the biggest disconnects between the public and elected leaders is when 75% of Americans don’t trust that they will do what they said they would do. Everyone in Utah says, ‘I’m conservative,’ but then they go and do things against the platform. Just say what you believe. I thought I was going to serve on conservative legislature and then I realized that the clear majority or a significant part of the party doesn’t believe on the republican platform.”

HIllary Koellner- “Chris, tell us how as an elected official you have made and will make decisions?”

Chris Herrod- “Well I look at all things in 3 categories. I have my core beliefs that I try and let everybody know and I’m not going to change.

If it’s something unconstitutional, I’m not your guy. Regardless of how my constituents feel I will keep those believes. Then I have my decisions in the middle, where I see there are two constitutional principles going against each other then I look at what my constituents want.

Lastly there’s an issue where there is no constitutional debate, then I will fight for whatever my constituents want on those issues.”

Hillary Koellner- “Lastly, tell us why did you decide to run for this 3rd congressional seat?”

Chris Herrod- “I think that I have several unique characteristics. I have the most international experience, I understand who Putin is, he is a chess player and we need a coherent policy to work with him. We need to avoid WWIII. I’ve seen and lived in a socialist system so it’s not theoretical. I have served in the Utah house and my voting records show I really am conservative, and I’m willing to speak up on difficult issues and take the tough stance. I think that’s what is needed in Washington D.C.

By Hillary Koellner