Republican Chris Wilson is the current state senator for Utah Senate District 2. He is running for reelection.
Tom Williams: So, we bring in now State Senator Chris Wilson. Senator Wilson, thanks for joining us.
Chris Wilson: Well, thank you Tom. I appreciate you having me on kind of an exciting night also to have on the constituent Damon on. That was great to have him here. So appreciate him all he does for our community. And again, thanks for having me on.
Tom Williams: So, as you've been talking to voters this time around, what's top of mind for the voters?
Chris Wilson: That's a great question. I mean, most everybody's on every mind is still the, you know, the national race, and it's been, it's been nice that I'm on the same rotation as the presidential election, because that means that, boy, they sure get to blow it out. But most, most of the you know, we've got a lot of people that are concerned about affordable housing. Education has been something else has been our mind of a lot of people up here in Cache Valley. We've got a lot of growth. So, there's been a lot of talk about infrastructure and roads and those types of things. And water has been an important thing also. And we know for the future growth of Utah, we've got to solve our water issues going forward, long term.
Damon Cann: Chris, is there anything in particular as you've been out campaigning that you are proud of, that you've been able to accomplish in your first term, or anything in particular you'd be excited to work on should you have the fortune to go back and represent this district again?
Chris Wilson: That's a great question. I think right now, I still want to continue working on funding for infrastructure and for roads. Currently, I'm the chair of IGG, which is infrastructure and general government. Kind of a peculiar committee, but it's one that's over the UDOT budget. We're able, also over all the state buildings, have been able to, I think, help Utah State with the vet school and some other buildings, and also on higher ed. So, I think helping Utah state's been, been a big plus, but, but trying to get funding from UDOT.
We're doing very well on what we call Valley View, but we still need to solve the problem that we have with Main Street. And, you know, it’s the main road through the valley. And we're looking at some options, and we've been working on. Now I really want to get back and try and, well, I'm going to hopefully succeed and get some funding for the for Main Street, and what we can do to fix that problem. We've just got a, you know, just a bottleneck there that we need to fix.
The other thing is, I'm really excited about the mental health receiving center. We’re able to get funding through the state legislature, a bill that I was the Senate sponsor of, we're able, and that should be starting to be built next spring. Really looking forward to working with Beth Smith from the Bear River Mental Health, Jordan Mathis with the Health Department, and also Sheriff Jensen has been a big help there, also the sheriff and trying to help, help our mental health crisis here in Cache Valley and that receiving center is going to be a big, big help for our community. And northern Utah, Box Elder, Cache and Rich County will serve those areas and just really excited, and I want to be a part of building of that building and continue with helping with Mental Health here in Cache Valley.
Tom Williams: Senator Wilson, thanks for so much for taking a little time with us on election night.
Chris Wilson: Yeah, I appreciate that. Thanks. Tom and again, thanks. And like, well, I'll sit here on the edge of our seats.
Tom Williams: Yeah, that's right, yeah, be a long night. That's right. Yeah,
Chris Wilson: Yeah, need to go give me a Diet Coke.
Tom Williams: Okay! Yeah, good, good luck with that. Yeah, State Senator Chris Wilson, running for reelection there.
