Orem mayoral candidate Karen McCandless called the event a “horrible tragedy” and said that as a widow, she first thought of Kirk’s wife, Erika, and how she would have to raise her family on her own.

“That’s what affected me,” McCandless said.

While Kirk’s assassination remains top news, some of the local focus has shifted back to the upcoming Orem election, which has turned into a partisan race for city council openings and the mayoral seat.

McCandless sat down for an interview with the Daily Herald and addressed the political conflict the city is facing. This is the second story recapping the conversation with McCandless.

“There’s a lot of divisiveness in our community right now, and that makes me sad,” McCandless said. “Something that I want to do as mayor is bring people together.”

In the Orem municipal race, six city council candidates are vying for three open positions and are each endorsed by one of two political PACs.

The Orem Stronger Together group endorses three candidates — Quinn Mecham, Angela Moulton and Doyle Mortimer — along with McCandless, while the Stand for Orem group endorses council candidates LaNae Millett, David Spencer and Crystal Muhlestein, and Mayor David Young.

A scroll through Facebook posts regarding Orem or a glance at the Daily Herald op-ed section shows how contentious the race has become.

McCandless acknowledged she is supported by Stronger Together but said she is friends with people involved in the Stand for Orem group and said she would like to bridge the gap.

If elected, McCandless said she will have an open-door policy with office hours.

“If somebody who didn’t vote for me and was not comfortable voting for me, if they want to come talk to me, let’s talk,” she said. “Let’s find out what their concerns are.”

She suggested Orem utilizes two resources at UVU — The Herbert Institute of Public Policy, and Peace and Justice Studies — to do a case study on political differences in Orem and figure out how to bring people together.

McCandless said she does not like high density, does not want to raise taxes and wants to have “the most outstanding services” in Utah Valley, and said she knows the other group of candidates want those things, too.

She said if elected, she would look for that common ground with council members and go from there, sitting down and meeting with them, whether formally or informally.

“I want to build a relationship with the new city council,” McCandless said. “To me, it’s going to be a new city council no matter what, because at least one person is going to be new, because Tom McDonald isn’t running. So I want to build relationships with the new members.”

She hopes the community can follow suit.

“Let’s not scream at each other,” she said. “Some of the emails I receive are just full of things that make me sad. Let’s channel that into something positive. I’m not saying one side or another. I don’t want to make it sound like the people who support me are (angels) and then there’s the other side. But it just shows that we need to bring the community together.”