LAYTON—Rep. Steven Handy, R-Layton, already has an uphill battle to win back his seat in House District 16 as a write-in candidate, now he’s got another Steve to contend with. After losing the nomination at the Davis County Convention to Trevor Lee, Handy launched a write-in campaign Aug. 30. A week later, Steve Fershtut filed as a write-in candidate on the last day right before the deadline. Handy believes Fershtut did it to create confusion for the voters in an effort to help Lee’s campaign.

“It’s just total silliness,” said Handy. “This is a seventh grade stunt. He filed within the last few hours at the deadline. Anyone who writes down just Steve will cause a spoiled ballot.”

Fershtut supports Mr. Lee, he said. “You can’t make this up. They couldn’t win with their own name so they hijacked mine. We’ll take the high road.”

It will be fine, Handy said. “There’s a lot of things in life that I’d rather be doing. We’re having fun.”

However, that’s not the end of the story. Last week the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Lee allegedly had a fake Twitter account where he spouted derogatory comments about the LGBTQ community and women and made false statements about COVID.

“This is shocking,” said Handy. “In my 44 years of working and serving in District 16 I’ve just never seen anything like it. Voters in Davis County District 16 deserve better.”

Handy said it’s becoming clearer and clearer to voters that he has served them and done good things and built good relationships. “I’ve had their best interests at heart. I can’t even describe it, his views are so radical and extreme. Ninety-nine percent of people don’t accept or think that way that I know of.”

In the meantime, Handy’s campaign is gaining traction with several people throwing their support behind him. “Sen. Jerry Stevenson and a number of other legislators have sponsored me,” said Handy. “We’ve got widespread support and positive momentum. I’m just trying to get my story out there and remind voters who I am.”

Lee is just a turn off to people, he said. “He’s trying to deflect attention from me onto himself saying things like I’m not a Republican. That’s not what a campaign should be about. That’s just garbage. It should be about who is the most qualified and has more experience and what they’ll do.” λ