CACHE COUNTY – Cache County Republicans will host an online debate Wednesday for local candidates vying to replace Craig Buttars as Cache County executive.
The virtual face-off will feature the local candidates running for that post. They are businessman Marc Ensign, county councilman David Erickson, transportation executive Ladd Kennington and David Zook, the Nibley city manager.
The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be accessed on the Cache County GOP Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cacherepublicans.
The online debate will provide an opportunity for the county executive candidates to air their views on a variety of topics prior to the GOP special election on Saturday, according to Cache GOP chair Chris Booth.
That special election will take place during a GOP County Central Committee meeting at the Cache County Event Center, with usual coronavirus precautions in effect.
Although that gathering is a public meeting, Booth is urging only voting members of the central committee and county delegates attend due to the coronavirus.
“We will be streaming the meeting live on our Facebook page for the general public.”
Ensign is a graduate of Brigham Young University and a resident of Paradise. The former owner of Ensign Toyota-Honda in Logan now has other business interests in Cache Valley. In 2020, Ensign campaigned unsuccessfully to fill the South District seat on the Cache County Council that was being vacated by Jon White.
Erickson is a Cache Valley native and a resident of Smithfield. He is a 1986 graduate of Utah State University and taught agriculture sciences at Sky View High School for 31 years prior to his retirement in 2020. In addition to operating Crow Mountain Farms, Erickson is now an appraiser for a local agricultural lending bank.
Kennington is a resident of Providence and a graduate of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at USU. His prior political experience includes participation in successful campaigns to elect U.S. Senator Mitt Romney and Utah Rep. Casey Snider. Kennington has also been a central committee member of both the state Republican Party for the past 18 months and the Cache County GOP for more than five years.
Zook is a Logan resident and a graduate of Southern Utah University. His previous public service experience includes leadership roles with the Cache Chamber of Commerce, the Family Place, the Hyde Park Planning Commission and the Logan Lion’s Club. Zook has also served on the central committees of both the Utah Republican Party and the Cache County Republican Party.
Under state law, local GOP leaders will select a nominee to serve out the remainder of Buttars’ unexpired term as county executive and forward that name to the Cache County Council for approval.