Over the last few months, we’ve knocked on over 6,000 doors, registered 747 voters, and made over 10,000 phone calls in Utah. Our team worked hard to reach our communities and support candidates who share our climate and democracy mission. While we have spent the last week processing what a second Trump presidency means, we have also already begun brainstorming where we go from here.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump taking the White House and the Senate and House flipping to an anti-environment majority is not good news. Threats to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, and clean water have already been made, and Utah’s public lands have long been a point of contention between the state and federal government (have you heard about Utah’s latest lawsuit and misuse of taxpayer money?).
The reality of the next four years is that this work will be hard. Still, fortunately, while only some candidates we supported won their races, we built relationships with new and returning legislators to pass policies that will create lasting change for Utah. Elections are just one part of the process. Without supporting good candidates through the election cycle, we won’t get legislators who stand with us in our efforts. Without relationships with legislators, we cannot pass good policies to protect the land, air, water, and democracy for all Utahns.
Elections are hard work, requiring many people to make them happen. Thank you to every candidate who ran this year and chose to work with us. This election cycle we tried something new in Utah– the Independent strategy. We hoped to offer unaffiliated candidates to voters in local races that were tired of partisan politics. While our two unaffiliated candidates, Jessica Wignall and Patrick Belmont, did outperform their previous Democratic candidates, they both lost to their Republican opponents. We are thrilled to welcome Jake Fitisemanu, a West Valley City councilman and strong environmental supporter, to the state House of Representatives. Sadly, Rosemary Lesser, the only Democrat in the State Legislature from outside Salt Lake County and a friend of the environment, will not be coming back this session–losing to her Republican opponent by less than 300 votes.
In the State Legislature, one of our biggest air quality champions, Andrew Stoddard, was reelected in a competitive race. We are happy to welcome back the up-and-coming air advocates Anthony Loubet and Tyler Clancy. We also want to congratulate many great legislative supporters and allies for their victories: Luz Escamilla, Karen Kwan, Tracy Miller, Ashlee Matthews, Sahara Hayes, Karen Kwan, Paul Cutler, Ray Ward, Sandra Hollins, Jennifer Daily-Provost, Hoang Nguyen, Grant Miller, Angela Romero, Verona Mauga, Doug Owens, Carol Spackman Moss, Jim Dunnigan, Rosalba Dominguez, Kathleen Riebe, and Gay Lynn Bennion.
In our local races, we sadly did not gain a pro-environment majority in either Salt Lake County or Grand County. We are excited to share that Trisha Hedin and Jacques Hadler will be serving on the Grand County commission, although we wish they could be joined by Ashley Korenblat and Jason Ramsdell, two other incredible climate advocates who unfortunately lost their races. Similarly, we are excited to have Natalie Pinkney, Ross Romero, and Jenny Wilson in office in Salt Lake County, though we wish they could have been joined by Zach Robinson and Katie Olson.
In San Juan County, the heart of southeastern Utah’s public lands and home of the Utah portion of the Navajo Nation, Lucille Cody was elected to the County School Board - this means San Juan County, Utah’s only Indigenous-majority county, will finally have its first-ever Indigenous majority on the school board, which could lead to huge positive changes for Native students.
While not every race turned out as we had hoped, we are immensely proud of the efforts of Stacy Bernal, Alisa Van Langeveld, Angela Choberka, Travis Smith, and Davina Smith, who ran dedicated and inspiring campaigns for the state legislature.
Though they will not be serving in office this cycle, each of them has left a lasting mark on their communities and advanced our collective work to protect Utah’s land, air, and water.
Their advocacy has shaped important conversations, and we look forward to the difference they’ll make–both in their communities and through future opportunities to lead.
While these losses are disheartening, it is important to note that we did not lose any progressive seats in the legislature. Given the ramifications of the federal election, not losing ground is crucial to moving the needle on progressive policies in the state.
Thank you for standing with us, supporting our work, and participating in our democracy. We are excited to dig deeper into our mission as we gear up to protect our lands, air, water, and democracy for all Utahns.
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