Summary
This Utah onAir Hub brings together information, experts, organizations, policy makers, and the Utah public to facilitate greater engagement in federal, state, and local politics and more civil, positive discussions and collaborations on important issues and governance.
This Hub is one of the 50 state onAir hubs being launched later this year. The state hubs can be found at the national US onAir Hub. The US Democracy network of onAir hubs is supported by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Democracy onAir.
Find out more about Who Represents Me in Utah.
Learn. Discuss. Make a Difference in Utah’s democracy.
Your voice matters on Utah onAir.
OnAir Post: Utah onAir
News
December 20, 2023
The base content in each post in this Utah onAir Hub has been updated as of 12/20/23. In addition to the eight posts on the home page, in depth posts on each US House member and posts on Utah government and elections have been started. These posts have been shared with the US onAir Hub and will updated in the US onAir automatically when they are updated in this hub.
If your university or nonpartisan organization (such as a government focused research center, citizen engagement program or a League of Women Voters chapter) is interested in assisting the US onAir network to help curate new issue posts or other posts on this Hub and moderate the forums in each post, contact Ben Murphy at Ben.Murphy@onair.cc.
We are also supporting college students to start an onAir chapter on the their campus to coordinate the curation and moderation of posts especially on state and local representatives and government.
About
All hub content in onAir hubs is free to the public. Hub ontent is under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license which permits content sharing and adaptation by nonprofit organizations as long as proper attribution is given to its author(s) and is used for non-commercial purposes. Content and moderation guidelines reinforce our commitment to fact-based, comprehensive content and civil and honest discourse.
To participate in aircast and post discussions, email usdemocracy@onair.cc and include your first name last name, and zipcode. Your real name and any other profile information will not be displayed unless you choose to do so. Your personal information is not shared with any other website or organization.
Hub membership will enable you to:
- Participate in issue and interview aircasts (student-led livestreamed discussions);
- Interact directly with post authors and curators giving them feedback, content suggestions, and asking questions;
- Ask questions, make suggestions, and give endorsement to representatives
Web Links
State Representatives
Utah is located in the Western region of the USA with Salt Lake City as its capital. Spencer Cox (R) is Governor
The Utah legislature has 29 Senate members and 75 House members
Governor Spencer Cox
Current: Governor since 2021
Affiliation: Republican
History: A moderate member of the Republican Party, Spencer Cox served as the eighth lieutenant governor of Utah from 2013 to 2021. In Fairview, Utah, where Cox lives and was raised, he was elected to the city council in 2004 and then as mayor in 2005. In 2008, he was elected as a Sanpete County county commissioner. He was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 2012. In October 2013, Governor Gary Herbert appointed Cox to replace Greg Bell as lieutenant governor.
Cox was accepted by Harvard Law School, but chose to enroll at Washington and Lee University School of Law, from which he graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2001. Cox was a law clerk for judge Ted Stewart of the United States District Court for the District of Utah. After his clerkship, Cox joined Fabian and Clendenin, a Salt Lake City law firm. He returned to rural Utah and became a vice president of Centracom.
OnAir Post: Spencer Cox – UT
US Representatives
Senator Mike Lee
Current: US Senator since 2011
Affiliation: Republican
Leadership: Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining (Committee on Energy and Natural Resources) and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights – (Committee on the Judiciary)
History: Mike Lee is the sone of Rex E. Lee, who was solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan. Lee’s older brother Thomas Rex Lee is a former justice of the Utah Supreme Court.
Lee began his career as a clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah before clerking for Samuel Alito, who was then a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Lee then entered private practice at the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm Sidley Austin, specializing in appellate and Supreme Court litigation.
From 2002 to 2005, Lee was an assistant United States attorney for the District of Utah. He joined the administration of Utah governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr., serving as the general counsel in the governor’s office from 2005 to 2006. Lee again clerked for Alito after he was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Quotes: The mission of my office is to drive the message of constitutionally limited government, while being accessible, responsive, and connected to the citizens of Utah. I will work to restore the federal government to its constitutionally limited scope by supporting a balanced budget amendment, term limits, earmark reform, entitlement reform, peace through military strength, and measures designed to promote energy independence.
OnAir Post: Mike Lee – UT
Senator Mitt Romney
Current: US Senator since 2019
Affiliation: Republican
Leadership: Ranking Member, Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy (Committee on Foreign Relations)
Next Election: Not running
History: Active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) throughout his adult life, Romney served as bishop of his ward and later as a stake president for an area covering Boston and many of its suburbs. As Bain’s chief executive officer (CEO), he helped lead the company out of a financial crisis. In 1984, he co-founded and led the spin-off company Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became one of the largest of its kind in the nation.
Mitt Romney served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and was the Republican Party’s nominee for president of the United States in the 2012 election, losing to Barack Obama.
Quotes: “Talk is cheap, but action is essential if we are to overcome the challenges facing our families, our state, and our nation. My record of getting things done in the private sector, community, and government is evidence that I can and will do what needs to be done for the people of Utah.” Mitt Romney
OnAir Post: Mitt Romney – UT
Blake Moore UT-01
Current: US Representative of UT-01 since 2021
Affiliation: Republican
Leadership: Vice chair of the House Republican Conference
District: northern area of Utah, including the cities of Ogden, Logan, Park City, Layton, Clearfield, Salt Lake City, and the northern half of the Great Salt Lake.
Next Election:
History: Moore enrolled at Utah State University on a football scholarship. Moore’s football scholarship was rescinded by a newly-installed football coach after he left to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Seoul, South Korea. Moore transferred to the University of Utah, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in behavioral science and business. He earned a master’s in public policy and administration from Northwestern University.
Moore briefly served as a United States Foreign Service officer in the United States Department of State, and worked as a business consultant for the Cicero Group, a management consulting firm based in Salt Lake City.
OnAir Post: Blake Moore UT-01
Celeste Maloy UT-02
Current: US Representative of UT-02 since 2023
Affiliation: Republican
District: largely rural western and southern portions of Utah, including Saint George and Tooele.
Next Election:
History:Celeste Maloy previously served as chief legal counsel to U.S. Representative Chris Stewart and as the deputy county attorney for Washington County, Utah. Prior to her legal career, Maloy worked as a conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Maloy attended Southern Utah University, where she earned her degree in agriculture.[6] She earned a Juris Doctor from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 2015.
OnAir Post: Celeste Maloy UT-02
John Curtis – UT03
Current: US Representative of UT-03 since 2017
Affiliation: Republican
Leadership: Vice Chair on Energy, Climate, & Grid Security Subcommittee Dietary Supplement Caucus (Co-Chair); Wildfire Caucus (Co-Chair); Biomedical Research Caucus (Co-Chair); Olympic Caucus (Co-Chair); and Conservative Climate Caucus (Chair).
District: outhern and eastern Utah and includes the cities of Orem and Provo.
Next Election:
History: He graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in business management. He worked for OC Tanner and the Citizen Watch Company before taking a position as the COO of a Provo-based company, Action Target, in 2000.
John Curtis served as mayor of Provo, Utah, from 2010 to 2017. On November 7, 2017, he won a special election to replace Jason Chaffetz in Congress after Chaffetz resigned. He was reelected in 2018, 2020, and 2022. From 2002 to 2003, he served as vice chairman and chairman of the Utah County Democratic Party.
OnAir Post: John Curtis UT-03
Burgess Owens – UT04
Current: US Representative of UT-04 since 2021
Affiliation: Republican
Leadership:
District: Some 85 percent of the new district is concentrated in Salt Lake County and it includes a portion of Salt Lake City,
Next Election:
History: Burgess Owens played safety for 10 seasons for the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, winning a championship with the Raiders in Super Bowl XV in 1980. Since leaving the NFL, Owens has founded several businesses and is the CEO of a nonprofit dedicated to helping troubled and incarcerated youth.
Owens was first elected to Congress in 2020, when he narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Ben McAdams in the 2020 election. Owens is one of four black Republicans in the House of Representatives.
OnAir Post: Burgess Owens – UT-04
More Information
Wikipedia
Utah is a state in the United States of America. Its government consists of a state executive, legislative, and judicial branch, laid forth by the Constitution and law of the State of Utah.
Executive Branch
The executive powers of government are vested in the Governor. The current governor is Spencer Cox, a Republican. Gary Herbert, the previous governor, assumed the governorship on August 11, 2009, following the resignation of Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., who was appointed United States Ambassador to China by President Barack Obama. Herbert was elected for a further four-year term in 2012 and 2016. In 2019, Herbert announced he would not seek a third full term in 2020, and endorsed then-Lieutenant Governor Cox for governor.[1] In the 2020 Utah gubernatorial election, Cox was elected governor, after first defeating former Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., former Utah GOP chair Thomas Wright, and former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes in the Republican primary, then defeating Democratic nominee Chris Peterson in the general election.
Officers
| Office | Office-holder |
|---|---|
| Governor | Spencer Cox |
| Lieutenant Governor | Deidre Henderson |
| Attorney General | Sean Reyes |
| State Treasurer | Marlo Oaks |
| State Auditor | John Dougall |
The Governor’s Cabinet consists of the following appointees, who are the heads of the agencies listed:[2]
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Administrative Services
- Commissioner, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Corrections
- Chief Information Officer for the State of Utah, Utah Department of Technology Services
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Commerce
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Environmental Quality
- Commissioner, Utah Department of Financial Institutions
- Executive Director, Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Health
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Human Resource Management
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Human Services
- Commissioner, Utah Insurance Department
- Adjutant General of Utah, Utah National Guard
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Natural Resources
- Commissioner, Utah Department of Public Safety
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Community and Culture
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Workforce Services
- Executive Director, Utah Department of Veteran Affairs
- Chairperson, Utah Board of Pardons and Parole
- Commissioner, Utah Labor Commission
- Commissioner, Utah State Tax Commission
Legislative Branch
The legislative powers of government are vested in the Senate, House of Representatives and the people. Both the Utah Senate and the Utah House of Representatives have a Republican majority.
Utah State Senate
Leadership
- President: Stuart Adams (R-22)
Majority (Republican) Leadership
- Majority Leader: Evan Vickers (R-28)
- Majority Whip: Ann Millner (R-18)
Minority (Democratic) Leadership
- Minority Leader: Karen Mayne (D-5)
- Minority Whip: Luz Escamilla (D-1)
Utah State House of Representatives
Leadership
- Speaker of the House: Brad Wilson (R-15)
Majority (Republican) Leadership
- Majority Leader: Francis D. Gibson (R-65)
- Majority Whip: Mike Schultz (R-12)
Minority (Democratic) Leadership
- Minority Leader: Brian King (D-28)
- Minority Whip: Karen Kwan (D-34)
Judicial Branch
The judicial powers of government are vested in a Supreme Court, district courts, and other courts of record.
Supreme Court
| Office | Office-holder[3] |
|---|---|
| Chief Justice | Matthew B. Durrant |
| Associate Chief Justice | Thomas R. Lee |
| Associate Justice | Constandinos Himonas |
| Associate Justice | John A. Pearce |
| Associate Justice | Paige Petersen |
District Courts
| District | Counties |
|---|---|
| 1 | Box Elder, Cache, and Rich |
| 2 | Davis, Morgan, and Weber |
| 3 | Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele |
| 4 | Juab, Millard, Utah, and Wasatch |
| 5 | Beaver, Iron, and Washington |
| 6 | Garfield, Kane, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne |
| 7 | Carbon, Emery, Grand, and San Juan |
| 8 | Daggett, Duchesne, and Uintah |
References
- ^ Roche, Lisa Riley (May 21, 2020). “Gov. Herbert formally endorses Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox in governor’s race”. Deseret News. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ^ Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr Archived 2008-06-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ “Judges’ Biographies – Utah Courts”.
