Ladd Kennington of Providence is one of four local candidates vying to replace Craig Buttars as Cache County executive in a GOP special election on Jan. 30.
CACHE COUNTY – If selected to replace outgoing Cache County Executive Craig Buttars in an upcoming special election, local business executive Ladd Kennington promises to be “as fiscally conservative as possible.”
“Government at every level needs to remember that their budget isn’t their money,”Kennington says. “That money belongs to the citizens.”
Kennington is one of four candidates in the running for the now-vacant county executive position. His rivals in the GOP special election slated for Jan. 30 are David Zook, the city manager of Nibley; local businessman Marc Ensign; and Cache County councilman David Erickson.
A native of Logan, Kennington was raised on a farm in Afton, Wyoming. He is a resident of Providence and a graduate of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. He is employed as a safety manager at LW Miller Transportation in Logan and has 15 years’ previous experience in various aspects of the transportation industry, including budgeting, logistics and human resources as well as personnel, productivity and profitability management.
Kennington says that background in a vital industry that “measures profit in pennies per mile” has taught him the value of carefully managing assets and activities every single day.
“I believe that Republicans in Cache County yearn to have a leader…that is willing to lead with moral clarity,” Kennington explains. “There should be no doubt who Republicans are and what we stand for and that should come from the top.
“Elected officials have the obligation to be role models and represent the best in their citizens. They need to demonstrate that by lifting others up and showing respect.”
Kennington’s prior political experience includes participation in successful campaigns to elect U.S. Senator Mitt Romney and Utah Rep. Casey Snider. He 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.
“I have sincere enthusiasm for the Cache County executive position,” Kennington adds. “Counties are merely a reflection of the people that reside in them. The citizens are what make Cache County great. I see that every single day in a million different ways.
“I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received in this undertaking from fine men and women across the county.”
The upcoming special election will take place during a GOP County Central Committee meeting Jan. 30 at the Cache County Event Center, with usual coronavirus precautions in effect.
Although that gathering is a public meeting, party chair Chris Booth recommends that only members of the central committee and county delegates to attend due to the coronavirus.
“We will be streaming the meeting live on our Facebook page for the general public,” Booth says.
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.