Provo businessman Richard Martin has begun his first political campaign, and it challenges Gary Herbert for republican nominee for Governor of Utah.

As a successful financial broker with thirty years of experience, he believes he will bring that investor-savvy to the governor's office. He would like to invest Utah's reserve funds in gold, allowing their value to grow instead of going down as the dollar is worth less. He also has no plan to raise taxes, and no problem cutting programs to cover a budget shortfall.

Mr. Martin also has a plan for a strategic food reserve. Just like the government has oil reserves, he suggests we purchase large amounts of "wheat, sugar, beans and other necessities" and store them in secure facilities throughout Utah. He believes we should start with a two week supply for every person, and then increase that to a three month supply. Mr. Martin thinks tens of thousands of lives could be saved during an emergency, such as a pandemic.

He also has a Foreign Investment Plan that would take advantage of a little used 1990 law called the "Immigration through Investment Act." This law allows immigrants who are qualified to invest in a business to achieve permanent residency. Utah would need to qualify as a special geographic area, and qualified investors must make a $500,000 investment and hire at least 10 people. This could have an impact on our employment rate as 100 investors would bring in $50 million and create 500 jobs.

"I have a plan and a real strategy for the future," said Mr. Martin at the announcement of his candidacy.

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