Hellewell decides to run again after all
Hellewell, known as a staunch conservative, will likely face a convention contest with fellow conservative Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, who had announced she would leave her seat in the Utah House of Representatives to seek Hellewell's District 15 Senate seat.
"Basically, I just felt it's what I needed to do," Hellewell told the Deseret Morning News. "A lot of things have changed since I decided not to run."
When he announced he would not seek re-election, Hellewell cited conflicts between his rapidly growing business, his family and his elected-official duties as his reasons for not mounting another campaign.
Since then, however, he has sold one business, delayed the construction of a building for another business and hired a full-time employee to take over many of the day-to-day operations that Hellewell had been doing himself.
"After all that, my wife said maybe I should run again," said Hellewell, who has a plumbing, heating and air-conditioning company. "And I got calls from so many people saying 'We need you there' and 'We want you to run again.' "
Dayton said she was "baffled" when Hellewell informed her of his decision on Wednesday morning but said his decision would not alter her campaign.
"I decided long ago I was running for the Senate seat," she said. "I haven't backed out or waffled. We're chosen to make the tough decisions — and the tough decision for him seems to be whether he's going to run."
Hellewell insisted that his decision was not result of any mistrust of Dayton.
"I think a lot of Margaret," he said. "I think she's a good person, and I think she'd be a good legislator. I've said that before."
Dayton has received several key endorsements, including one from Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, who has supported of Hellewell in the past.
Hellewell said he has spoken to Valentine, who will continue to endorse Dayton.
"They made that commitment after I got out of the race and felt like they should live up to it, and I agree," Hellewell said.
Hellewell said he put himself at a disadvantage by saying he wouldn't run, then changing his mind and missing out on six months of hard work in gaining the support of delegates, who will decide at the party's convention which candidate will represent the Republican party on Election Day.
But he said he still thinks he holds the overall advantage as the incumbent and plans to remind voters that Dayton received endorsements from Valentine and others only after he had said he wouldn't run.
The campaign promises some intense moments, but both candidates said they didn't think the process would have a negative effect on the Utah County GOP.
"These are intelligent voters and they can make good decisions," Dayton said.
Both candidates vowed to run a clean campaign.
"I don't want to get caught up in (personal attacks)," Dayton said. "I intend to take the high road and stick to the issues."
Hellewell, who faces only Dayton in the race so far, made a similar promise.
"I hope the campaign stays clean, and I'm not going to say bad things about Margaret," he said. "If I'm not there (after the election), she's a conservative like me."
E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com
You can be the first to comment on this story.