This is my Convention speech as written. I modified it a little while giving it based on time and interaction with the audience.

In a leadership training video I recently watched, General Colin Powell shared a story from early in his career. As a young lieutenant, his sergeant told him, “Lieutenant, you’ll know you’re a good leader when people follow you—if only out of curiosity.”

Four years ago, at the county convention, I received more delegate votes than any other candidate that year. Maybe some of those votes were out of curiosity. But I ran on a clear promise: to make the data gathered during our elections more accessible to the voters.

And I have kept that promise.

• I expanded public participation in post‑election audits and allow citizens to select some of the ballot batches we audit.
• I worked with Representative Norm Thurston on legislation that now allows Cast Vote Records to be made public after each election.
• I worked with Representative Cory Maloy to give County Clerks the ability to verify citizenship status through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. I am currently the only County Clerk in Utah registered to use that system because I took the initiative to get registered early.
• I provided data to support legislation requiring petition signature gatherers to complete training before collecting signatures.

Just this week, the MIT Election Data & Science Lab released its Elections Performance Review, ranking the State of Utah 40th in the nation. That’s not where we should be. I could try to argue about the methodology behind the ranking—but I’d rather look at the data and find ways to improve Utah’s Elections.

That report also shows that while Utah has improved, other states are improving faster. My opponent has greatly criticized my involvement in the legislative process, saying the clerk should stay in his office and simply “do the job”—dotting i’s and crossing t’s. Now is not the time for a clerk to sit behind a desk. Now is the time to take action, to engage, and to lead fight the fire.

In the Party’s podcast, my opponent admitted he never aspired to be County Clerk and was essentially recruited into the race.

I can guarantee you this: I aspire to this position. No one had to talk me into running. My background—earning a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in accounting with an emphasis in information systems, an MBA in finance, working for Price Waterhouse implementing large‑scale accounting database systems, and building my own database development business—has uniquely prepared me for this role. And over the last four years, I have proven my dedication to it.

I have built my career around being curious. People often say curiosity killed the cat—but the full saying is, “Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” The satisfaction of improving our election processes is what I aspired to, and it continues to be my driving inspiration.

My name is Aaron Davidson, and I appreciate your support—whether it’s because you believe in my work, my vision, or even if it’s simply out of curiosity.