As part of a recent viral trend on social media, women would ask their husbands or boyfriends how often they think about the “Roman Empire” while making a video of the response. These women were shocked to find out that men apparently think about the Roman Empire… a lot.

I have to admit that I don’t always think about the Roman Empire, but when I do, I think about the roads they built, the aqueducts that made an advanced civilization possible, the barbarian invasions, or the decrees that all the world should be taxed.

After the last legislative session, it is clear that many leaders in Utah have the Roman Empire on their minds. More specifically – they have Coliseum’s on their mind. Recently, Governor Cox signed into law the legislation that would allocate nearly $1 billion dollars of taxpayer subsidies to build new sports stadiums in Salt Lake City.

I voted against the bill to build new Coliseums in Utah. I think the billionaires who will benefit from this $1 billion subsidy and the sports and entertainment industries have enough wealth to fund their own stadiums.

It’s popularly known that the reason emperors built coliseums was to pacify and distract the masses. This makes sense. When our state government has basically become a money laundering operation to funnel over $1 billion dollars of funds from taxpayers who are falling behind in a difficult economy to connected elites who are already billionaires, then the distraction of a shiny new stadium is one of the oldest tricks in the book.

I’m encouraged to see that Utahns aren’t falling for the distraction. Utahns know that their state government isn’t putting their concerns first. They know that the system is getting rigged to help the connected. Our state government isn’t doing enough to stop the invasion of our country by illegal immigrants. Our once competitive economy has stagnated to the point that our only GDP growth in Utah is coming from growth in government spending. Utahns can’t afford homes, and paychecks aren’t keeping up with increasing costs.

Yet, somehow, the biggest priority of our current governor is to build shiny new stadiums for his friends.

We need a change.

Utahns know it.

This is why my campaign is growing every day. If you want a governor who listens to your concerns, we hope you will join us.