SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah County Attorney David Leavitt has announced he will run for state attorney general following a year in his job with the county.
Leavitt announced in a Facebook video last Friday that he will challenge current Republican Attorney General Sean Reyes.
Leavitt has made strides toward reforming what he called a “broken” criminal justice system, but wants a job where he could do more, he said in his campaign announcement video.
“While Utah County is a great place from which to change the criminal justice system, it isn’t the best spot. The most ideal spot is as the Utah Attorney General,” said Leavitt, a Republican.
Some innovations enacted in Utah County could be adopted at the state level, including a program to give nonviolent drug offenders opportunities to restart their lives, Leavitt said.
“In a nation that incarcerates more people than anywhere in the world, we have work to do,” Leavitt said. “Most of those are nonviolent offenders. We have done a poor job at trying to help these offenders come back into society.”
The announcement came the same day that Reyes announced his campaign as state attorney general, a position he has held since 2013, when he was appointed by Republican Gov. Gary Herbert.
Reyes has targeted the opioid epidemic, suicide, human trafficking, cybercrime and white-collar fraud during his tenure, the Deseret News reported.
“The people of this state know I stand for the Rule of Law and justice for all, not just the elite,” Reyes said in a statement. “I will run a positive and strong campaign to remain Utah’s top law enforcement leader and the State’s principal legal counsel.”
As of Monday, Leavitt and Reyes were the only candidates for attorney general who had filed campaign paperwork with the state elections office, the Daily Herald reported. Candidates have until Thursday to file the paperwork to run in the election.
