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SALT LAKE CITY — Democratic candidate for governor Mike Weinholtz on Tuesday accused GOP Gov. Gary Herbert's administration of "contributing directly to the mistreatment and inequality of women in Utah."
Standing in front of about 40 supporters gathered on the Capitol steps, Weinholtz, the chairman of CHG Healthcare, said the state spends too much money dealing with the perpetrators of sexual violence and not enough helping victims.
He also said women in the workplace face difficulties in Utah, such as earning 70 cents for every $1 a man makes, below the national average for women of 79 cents, and holding fewer executive positions.
Women in Utah, Weinholtz said, "deserve basic safety, fair treatment and equal opportunity. Unfortunately some of our elected officials have ignored the problems faced by Utah women, including Gov. Herbert."
Weinholtz said Herbert has failed to adequately address sexual violence and to acknowledge that a gender pay gap exists, later adding that the governor has also shown "a lack of leadership" on expanding Medicaid coverage to single mothers.
"It takes more than a political stunt to make a difference for Utah women," Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement, noting that women are key members of the governor's senior staff and cabinet.
Cox said Herbert "is a strong defender of and advocate for women. The governor understands that Utah is at its best when people have equal opportunity, regardless of their gender. To allege otherwise is simply not supported by the facts."
Speakers at the rally included Charlene Albarran, seeking the 2nd District congressional seat, and Democratic candidates Catherine Kanter, running for Salt Lake County Council.
Weinholtz spoke only briefly about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's vulgar description of making sexual advances on a woman from a 2005 video that surfaced Friday.
"This year's presidential election has brought the mistreatment of women into the public spotlight obviously because of the antics of one Donald Trump," Weinholtz said, calling the GOP nominee just "one symptom" of the problem.
He told reporters later that Herbert and other Republicans who announced as a result of the video that they could no longer vote for Trump did so only to "save their own political hide" and should suffer political repercussions.
