Winder accuses GOP of 11th-hour smears
The election is 24 hours away, and the Republicans are turning to last-minute dirty politics in an effort to keep Aaron Kennard in office, challenger Jim Winder said. The latest Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll puts Winder up by 7 points over Kennard after trailing by 30 points just one month ago.
A day after the poll was published in the Deseret Morning News, county GOP leader James Evans released a video to local media with several clips of Winder leading training sessions for Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies. In the video, Winder makes several inflammatory remarks "unbecoming to the man who wants to be your sheriff," Evans said.
In one clip, Winder said, "I want to be a hero, so I come in from the south side because I want to get there quicker than anybody else so I can give an a-- kicking or maybe shoot some guy if I'm really lucky. No s---."
In several other clips, Winder makes fun of South Salt Lake and Utah Transit Authority officers, as well as dispatchers and other patrol officers.
The video is nearly four minutes long and features a compilation of embarrassing statements Winder made during two separate training sessions that lasted a total of eight hours. Winder said he couldn't comment on the actual statements made in the video since they were clips that could have been taken out of context.
Both major newspapers in town show Winder in the lead: the Deseret Morning News has him up 7 points, while the Salt Lake Tribune shows Winder is up 17 points.
Evans doesn't deny the timing of the video release appears "fishy."
"Our motives are obvious. I want people to understand who Jim Winder is," Evans said. "What's fishy is his disregard for law enforcement and public safety. Most importantly is his disregard for this type of behavior."
Evans said he wishes he could have released the tape sooner, but he didn't get it until Sunday. He said he was tipped off to Winder's behavior months ago but hasn't been able to prove it until now.
He said Kennard had nothing to do with the tape's release as "that's not the way the sheriff campaigns."
Attempts to reach Kennard Sunday night were unsuccessful.
After reading the recent poll numbers on the sheriff's race, Salt Lake County Democratic chairwoman Megan Risbon said she just sat back and waited for the Republicans to strike.
"We knew something was going to happen," Risbon said. "The Republicans and James Evans are scared and they know they are going to lose a lot of seats this year. They are going to do what ever they can, and this is how they play."
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com
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