Reform Social Security? Cut regulations? Say hello to Utah’s Democratic candidates for Congress

A military veteran who wants to reform welfare. An auto executive who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. A small-town lawyer who wants to preserve coal-fired power plants. And a self-described “patriot” who grew up off the grid on a commune.
Welcome to Utah’s 2024 cast of Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress.
It is no secret that the Beehive State tends to favor politicians with an “R” by their name: Republican nominees won all four of Utah’s congressional seats by around 30 percentage points in 2022.
But this year’s assembly of unorthodox office-seekers believes their fresh approach to issues will attract voters who are tired of the predictable partisanship of Washington, D.C.
“I think I can convince enough people to make — maybe make — a competitive election,” 3rd Congressional District candidate Glenn Wright told the combined Deseret News and KSL editorial boards on Tuesday. “I’m the eternal optimist.”
Each of the Beehive State’s Republican incumbents in the U.S. House of Representatives will face a Democratic opponent in the November general election.
Rep. Blake Moore, representing Utah’s 1st Congressional District, will face off against his former GOP convention challenger, Bill Campbell. Rep. Celeste Maloy, of Utah’s 2nd District, will face attorney Nathaniel Woodward. And Rep. Burgess Owens, of the 4th District, will face marketing specialist Katrina Fallick-Wang.
Republican state Sen. Mike Kennedy will compete for the open 3rd Congressional District seat against Wright, a former Summit County Councilman.
Wright, a now-retired loss control consultant for Chubb insurance, is quick to recount war stories from his time in Vietnam as an Air Force pilot from 1969-1975.
The former Utah Democratic Party volunteer believes his party better represents the Constitution he swore to protect, and has framed his candidacy around individual freedom — particularly as he sees it in relation to abortion, transgender access in public spaces and books in public schools.
“We have a faction in (the Republican) Party right now that likes to tell people what to do with their lives,” said Wright, who lives in Park City.
Wright’s opponent was the sponsor of a recently enacted bill that bans transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for Utah minors. Kennedy also voted in favor of a 2024 bill to increase penalties for individuals who use public bathrooms that don’t match their biological sex.
Wright said he questions the commitment to the Stars and Stripes of those who support former President Donald Trump. Wright believes the current GOP nominee for president “tried to overthrow the government” following the 2020 election and put American service members in danger by retaining classified documents in his home.
Wright strays from the party line in his openness to talk about the soaring debt and porous border. Wright recognizes that “Democrats virtually never talk about” the principle drivers of deficit spending — entitlement programs. But he believes “we have to have people that are willing” to run on solving the impending insolvency of programs like Social Security.
After reading the report on the Social Security trust fund, Wright proposes removing the limit on taxable earnings for Social Security so the 6.2% payroll tax applies to annual incomes above $170,000. Wright said there are also ways to push back the retirement age while compensating those who would be immediately affected.
Wright holds familiar Democratic views on other top national issues. He said the Utah energy industry should transition jobs away from fossil fuels toward renewable alternatives. He called for comprehensive immigration reform that allows for “a lot more” legal immigration to meet labor demands. And he criticized the GOP under Trump for damaging relationships with NATO allies.
“As a lone congressman, you can’t do too much, but what you have to do is to put your ideas out there and see if you can get some people who agree with you,” Wright said.
Wright ran in the 3rd District in 2022 but lost to Rep. John Curtis, who is running for Utah’s open Senate seat, by 35 percentage points. If he could compete with Kennedy on the fundraising front, Wright said he could envision a path to victory with the younger voters of the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University. At the time of the last filing deadline, Wright had $3,500 in cash on hand; Kennedy had $62,000.
Like Wright, Bill Campbell also ran for the seat he is currently pursuing back in 2022. That year, he challenged Rep. Moore in the GOP convention as a Republican candidate.
Campbell voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. He said he is undecided about who he will support for president this year and has since changed his party affiliation to Democrat, reflecting his focus on “people” and not “political parties.” But Campbell’s platform, which he believes places him “to the right” of Moore, hasn’t changed.
“Democrats had a much broader tent,” Campbell said in an interview with the Deseret News. “I was basically told I can keep my positions as long as I continued with full respect and the character, ethical aspects.”
Campbell, who spent decades as the chief financial officer of auto supplier Autoliv, and as a board member of multiple charities, said his qualifications for office include having business experience, no conflict of interests (he is not accepting campaign donations) and a record of community service.
Campell said his priorities are to increase government efficiency and bipartisanship. His website says if elected he would work to stop illegal immigration, reduce regulations and balance the budget. Campbell lives outside of the 1st District in Davis County.
Nathaniel Woodward recently moved his young family back to rural Price where he was raised to start his own law firm and ensure that the town his ancestors helped found would continue to be home to the seventh and eighth generations of Woodwards.
While he lives outside of the 2nd Congressional District, Woodward says he is in touch with the concerns of rural Utahns more than any other congressional candidate and chose to run for office to make sure their voices are heard — particularly in the energy sector.
“I don’t think anyone from a city background can possibly understand the issues surrounding people that live in small communities,” Woodward said in an interview with the Deseret News. “If you remove an industry from a rural community, it’s not a wound, it’s a death sentence.”
The Democratic Party has “failed” in its treatment of climate policy by being “environmentalists first” instead of “humanists first.” There is a human price paired with every regulation meant to decrease emissions that can, and does, decimate towns like Price. Understanding this mindset will lead to commonsense solutions, not just on energy, but on other issues like immigration and the economy, Woodward said.
Woodward proposes government subsidies to provide carbon scrubbers for every carbon-fired power plant, remedying what Woodward sees as a current market failure. Doing so would make this important energy source environmentally sustainable and would preserve the communities that power Utah.
“Our cultures cannot be the currency in which we exchange for progress,” Woodward said.
As a resident of South Salt Lake, Katrina Fallick-Wang also lives outside of her district. But her poverty-stricken childhood — which included hunger, no formal education, and a teenage pregnancy — has given her an inside view of what working-class voters in the 4th Congressional District are dealing with, Fallick-Wang told the Deseret News.
Fallick-Wang, who has often worked as a community activist on progressive issues, decided to run for office this year for the first time because she thought the country was failing to provide opportunities to some of its most vulnerable populations, like working mothers, she said.
“We’re not living up to our potential. And the reason for that, I think, is this extremism and partisanship that is happening in politics,” Fallick-Wang said.
Fallick-Wang said the top issues that have emerged in her conversations with voters are air quality, housing affordability and social mobility. While she is a vocal support of the Democratic Party’s emphasis on LGBTQ and transgender issues, Fallick-Wang also sees a need for economic deregulation.
Fallick-Wang, who works as an email marketing manager for Zagg, said she was first attracted to Utah for its flourishing tech sector. She said she would support a process of deregulation to streamline the permitting process for small businesses.
“We need to lift up America’s middle class and Utah’s middle class,” she said. “Small businesses are so, so heavily taxed that we need to really give them a little bit of breathing room to be able to succeed and grow.”
Wright, Campbell, Woodward and Fallick-Wang will face their Republican opponents in the general election on Nov. 5. Debates will be hosted by the Utah Debate Commission in October.