Republican Jan Garbett will name physician Joe Jarvis as her running mate UtahPolicy.com has learned.
Garbett confirmed the news on Wednesday night and says she plans to make a formal announcement on Thursday when she officially files for the ballot at the Utah State Capitol.
She poached Jarvis to join her gubernatorial ticket after he had already declared in January he would challenge Rep. Chris Stewart as a member of the United Utah Party.
“We had conferred on some things, and we had really similar views on some of the same issues,” said Garbett about Jarvis.
Garbett says Jarvis’ experience as a physician and founder of the Utah Health Policy Project would serve the state well, especially during the current crisis from the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Our state could be responding so much better if we had someone in government with experience who could respond with expertise,” said Garbett. “We would make a powerful team in both prevention and reform.”
Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who is also running for governor, is currently leading Utah’s efforts to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
Jarvis is a former Republican who gave up his party membership in 2016 after the GOP nominated Donald Trump for president. He unsuccessfully ran for the Utah Legislature twice previously as a Republican.
