Fourth congressional district candidate January Walker sat down with the UVU Review and shared insights into both her time at UVU, and her campaign’s message going into the 2022 midterm elections.
Graduated in 2021 with a degree in business and minoring in economics and finance, Walker is UVU Alumni and now is seeking to become the 4th congressional district’s representative in Congress.
“Finishing up my degree was a huge part of being able to run for congress,” Walker stated. “It is definitely surreal, it’s kind of cool though I think because it shows you that really you can accomplish what you want and you, as you are today, have the ability to go after whatever your dream is.”
Walker is running as a third party candidate under the banner of the United Utah Party. After winning her party’s nomination back in April, she has run a campaign uniquely defined by its technological policy proposals. One example is her stance on the second amendment as listed on her website, where she supports the right to firearms however champions solutions like biometrics to keep unauthorized persons from using someone else’s firearm.
“This technology is going to advance anyways,” Walker stated. “So why wouldn’t we say as it continues to advance … why wouldn’t we make it so that we know that it is the owner of the gun that’s having access to it or an individual that has permission from the owner to access their weaponry.”
This technological approach is also how Walker would address issues pertaining to the national debt. Using machine learning and AI, Walker suggests tracking where appropriated money is going in to make sure that taxpayer dollars are not being misused or otherwise misappropriated.
“We do not know where our government spending is going. We misappropriated … 662 billion! This number shocks me so much,” Walker stressed. “We don’t find out about this until after the fact. If we have technology available today that we can tie to government spending so that anytime the government goes through and they make a transaction, it writes that transaction.”
Walker says this would be logical and would better allow for Americans to keep the government accountable and prevent corruption. As to passing these policies, Walker hopes to build coalitions in congress that go over perpetual narratives in Washington, D.C.
“When it comes to transcending party lines I have actually had a lot of luck bringing in Republicans and Democrats from both sides even in this campaign,” Walker stated. “If there is anything that Republicans and Democrats agree on, it’s that they don’t want anyone that is an independent candidate in congress.”
Within her interview, Walker addressed accusations that third party or independent candidates were “throw away votes,” and the role independents and third parties play in elections.
“There might be people that say ‘oh independents are a throw away vote’ but in actuality we are not,” Walker asserted. “If you go into the younger generation [18 to 27], so for the last nine years … they out register both Republicans and Democrats as purple individuals. So voting for independents, voting for moderates in Utah is not a waste of a vote here. That is this narrative that has been perpetuated but I think that our future is not going to have the major parties in it.”
As a self-described millennial candidate, Walker has stressed the importance of younger generations being able to pick up the torch as the older generations age out.
“If [young generations] stood up, and they actually fought for their rights,” Walker began. “If they adjusted their path, then they could probably be the greatest generation that ever lived.”
Walker ended by stressing how important her time at UVU was saying, “I really loved the education that UVU gave me…There are a lot of valuable skills that they teach you on a day to day basis. Sometimes you look in and you’re like ‘how is this valuable’ or ‘what does this mean,’ and in the future those skills will come up. … You’re at a great school, there is a ton of students here that are going to do great things and keep on trucking.”
For more information on Walker, visit her campaign website. For more information about voting deadlines and registering to vote, visit voter.utah.gov.
