3rd District Republican candidate Tanner Ainge wasn’t registered to vote in Utah when he filed to run for office, but his campaign says that’s simply an oversight.
According to the Utah Elections Office, Ainge registered to vote in Utah on June 6 of this year. That was after Ainge filed to run as a candidate in the special election to replace Rep. Jason Chaffetz. He filled out the paperwork to become a candidate on May 22.
Ainge also registered to vote after he turned in his signatures to secure a place on the August 15 primary ballot. Those signatures were turned in on June 5, one day before he registered to vote.
Ainge’s campaign says the whole thing is simply a mix-up. Ainge moved to Utah at the end of November. That’s when he got a driver’s license but forgot to register to vote at the same time.
Before Utah, Ainge lived (and voted) in Orange County from 2013 until 2016. Before that, Ainge lived and went to school in Illinois. He attended law school at Northwestern.
Ainge was registered to vote in Utah once before. He lived in Sandy where he was on the voter rolls until he left for law school in 2010.
“Tanner simply forgot to check the box to register when he got his license,” says Peter Watkins, a spokesperson for Ainge’s campaign.
“However, we’d like to stress that he has been a lifelong registered Republican,” Watkins added.
That last statement is clearly a shot at Provo Mayor John Curtis. Curtis, who is vying for the GOP nomination against Ainge and former Utah Rep. Chris Herrod, has taken some heat for running as a Republican after campaigning for the Utah Legislature as a Democrat in 2000.
