Dear WRC of SLC Members,


As president of the WRC of SLC, I feel it necessary to publicly address the controversy surrounding Mike Lee's withdrawal from our debate.  As you are aware, the WRC of SLC, along with the UFRW (Utah Federation of Republican Women) offered to sponsor, organize and advertise a debate between U.S. Senate Republican candidates, Mike Lee and Tim Bridgewater, on Saturday, June 19th.

Two days ago, Mike Lee's campaign withdrew from the debate without offering an explanation or apology.  Obviously, it is difficult to host a debate with only one candidate.  Yesterday, it came to our attention that Mike Lee was disseminating information about his cancellation, as well as information about the WRC and UFRW, that is complete fabrication.  


There are a few things I want everyone to know:

1.  We (UFRW and WRC) never changed the venue of this debate.  The venue was secured approximately two weeks ago and was agreed upon by both campaigns. 

2.  Mike Lee's campaign never requested to have a staff member vet questions prior to the debate.  He claims that he did, and that we denied the request.  

3.  Cherilyn Eager was not involved in organizing this debate, and in fact, we would have gladly asked her not to attend if her presence there was cause for concern.  Cherilyn Eager is the VP of Media Relations for the UFRW, and has been for several years.  She simply disseminated the UFRW authored press release. 

4.  We never received any communication from Mike Lee's campaign that there was anything amiss.  I spoke with Mike Lee's campaign manager on Wednesday via a phone call that I initiated. 

5.  Finally, yesterday, I learned of Mike Lee's reasons for cancellation by reading a statement on his "Mike Lee for U.S. Senate" facebook page.  (This statement, by the way, has since been deleted off both facebook and his website.)

If you will scroll through our blog, you will see that the WRC hosted both candidates this year.  Both were treated with the utmost respect and professionalism.  Our club hosted Mike Lee on February 11th, and Tim Bridgewater on March 11th.  


The primary election is this coming Tuesday, June 22nd.  Who you vote for is your personal and private choice.  I am not trying to sway you one way or the other. Please, just vote.  It's important to exercise your right to do so.  Many women, in years gone by, fought long and hard for us to have that right.  Please don't take for granted their tremendous sacrifice.  Utah was one of the first states to grant women the right to vote.  We are proud of that heritage, as well as our heritage of being the oldest Women's Republican Club in the nation.  Established in 1899, we have weathered many a storm and will weather this one as well.


We plan to proceed with our event this Saturday night, June 19th.  Obviously, it won't be a debate.  Candidate Tim Bridgewater has committed to attend despite Mike Lee's absence.  If you haven't met him previously, this is an opportunity for you to do so.  Please join us as we celebrate being Republican women in Utah.  I'd love to see you there.  Please bring your daughters and granddaughters, your friends and neighbors, too.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Handy