Large number of LGBTQ candidates running for Utah municipal offices

At least nine openly LGBTQ candidates are seeking municipal offices this year, including in city council and mayor races. Most are in Salt Lake City, but others are running in less progressive areas, like Ogden and South Salt Lake.

Longtime gay advocate ALE- JANDRO PUY is running in Salt Lake City’s West Side. His race is mostly focused on bringing solutions to problems affecting one of the most marginalized parts of the city. An immigrant from Argentina, he says he is a “New American” who understands the challenges that many face and can relate to the issues affecting his district.

“The Westside of Salt Lake has historically been where those who didn’t fit in boxes live. People of color, immigrants, different religions and the LGBTQ+ people live in the west because they don’t feel judged and they feel accepted,” he said in an interview. “As a person of color, immigrant, and queer myself, I feel at home here in this area. I am lucky I can connect with my neighbors due to the intersectionality of my identities and because we share similar hope and frustrations. This area of Salt Lake City has historically felt forgotten, many felt left behind, or unimportant. This area is a very Latino, and diverse but always has been represented by white cis men who only reached out to other white voters for support<” he continued. “Because of my identities I feel a duty to make the community better, and help those that have lost hope. My connection to this district drives me to do more and I believe it is an advantage to my campaign.”

Ogden City Councilmember MARCIA WHITE is running for re-election. She was first elected to the council in 2013 and is currently serving as vice chair of the council.

Since election, she has been investing in a vibrant and growing city, supporting public safety, and promoting excellence in government including transparency, communications, and sound financial sustainability.

DUSTIN GET- TEL is running for re-election as Midvale City Councilmember. He moved from Pennsylvania to Utah with his partner in 2015 and quickly fell in love with his rapidly changing Midvale community. Dustin decided to challenge the incumbent city councilmember because of issues he saw in Midvale and won by more than 20 percentage points.

Since then, Dustin has championed progressive causes like paid parental leave for city employees, banning puppy mills throughout the city, increased walkability and bikeability, and formal recognition of LGBTQ Pride month and Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Gettel says he is proud to be one of the few, if not only, openly gay men elected outside of Salt Lake City.

South Salt Lake mayoral candidate JAKE CHRISTENSEN has a solid plan for when he is elected. He has outlined eight specific values that he will take to city hall if elected mayor —safety, planning, efficiency, more reasons to visit, infrastructure, communication, climate change, and affordability.

He says that he brings compassion to the table as well, as a gay man.

“I believe it’s safe to say, by virtue of the world we live in, that many members of the LGBTQIA+ community possess a heightened sense of empathy. We understand how important it is to listen, and we’ve experienced when others don’t understand our personal reality,” he said in an interview. “In my opinion, it’s these traits that we need more of in civic leadership — particularly here in Utah.”

He calls on the city’s LGBTQ community to step up and help him get elected.

“With Salt Lake City being perhaps the only exception, LGBTQIA+ people are extremely underrepresented in Utah and the nation,” he said. “The trouble is, I feel like our community could do much better to show up to the polls. We’re not voting enough. Too many of my queer friends have never voted before. We all have a responsibility to show up if we want to see our basic liberties provided and maintained. And if you think the work already being done is sufficient— you’re wrong. We need your voice.”

In Springdale, Utah, former city councilmember MARK CHAM- BERS is in a tight race for mayor. In the August primary, Chambers won just under 40 percent of the vote. His next competitor in the 4-way race won 36.84 percent.

Chambers ran for mayor in 2013 and lost by just eight votes. “I was eight votes shy of winning to be mayor of Springdale,” Chambers posted back then on his Facebook page. “Thank you to all those that have supported me and Joe during this election. Though I lost, I relish the experience. Remember it is important to be involved in your community and elections, you can make a difference.” In 2013 there were 306 registered voters in the town of 547 people. Chambers moved to Springdale with his husband, Joe Pitti, and opened Under the Eaves Bed and Breakfast.

AMY FOWL- ER was elected to the city council in 2017 representing the Sugar House area. In 2013 she co-founded the LGBT and Allied Lawyers of Utah. She is currently the chair of the city council and chair of the National League of Cities — Large Cities Council.

Fowler says that being a member of the LGBTQ+ community hasn’t hindered her at all.

“While there may be people out there who don’t want to vote for me because of who I am, that is their decision and I wouldn’t change their mind anyway,” she said. “I have been taught to stand up for myself and for people around me, and I do that.

When she left Utah in 1996 to go to college, she hadn’t yet come out and thought she wouldn’t be accepted in the state.

“When I returned to Salt Lake 12 years later, it was the leaders of the LGBTQ+ community who made me realize what an amazing city we live in,” she said. “They have been fighting and working for the rights of our community since before I knew it!.I am so grateful to be living in such an amazing place and am even more honored to represent District 7 and the LGBTQ+ community for the last four years. I look forward to the next four years.”

Salt Lake City Councilmember CHRIS WHAR- TON was first elected in 2017 after serving two terms on the Salt Lake City Human Rights Commission. He is an attorney who has won many cases affecting Utah’s LGBTQ community — most recently winning a monumental case in the Utah Supreme Court regarding gender markers for transgender Utahns.

Wharton has served on the board of the Utah Pride Center and has donated hundreds of hours of service to the ACLU of Utah, the Rainbow Law Clinic, Equality Utah, and the Utah State Bar.

SARAH REALE is running for Salt Lake City Council District 5, which includes the Ballpark and Liberty Wells neighborhoods.

“In a representative democracy, it is the role of elected officials to represent their district. The best leader is someone who can put their own self-interest aside and lead in an equitable way. I have no interest in party politics,” Reale said. “As an empathetic leader and a good listener, I will work to represent all constituent interests. With a promise to be authentic and transparent, I will listen and learn from the people I represent – and always speak the truth.”