“Today, we lost an extraordinary stateswoman and one of our dearest friends,” Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said in a joint statement. “Sen. Karen Mayne was a trailblazer and exceptional leader who showed us how working together, despite political differences, can strengthen our state.”
Mayne served 15 years in the Utah Senate, since she first took office in 2008. The West Valley City Democrat was elected to the same seat as her late husband, Ed Mayne, who died in 2007.
Before she retired and began a career in the Legislature, Karen Mayne worked for Granite School District for 20 years as a paraeducator. In 2014, she served in legislative leadership as assistant minority whip. The next year she served as the senate minority whip. From 2019 until the day she retired in January 2023, she served as minority leader, the Senate’s top Democrat.
When Karen Mayne left the Utah Legislature in 2023, she wrote in her resignation letter her “health has taken an unexpected turn.” In January 2022, Karen Mayne announced she had been diagnosed with cancer. At the time she was also recovering from a shoulder and head injury she sustained in a fall, FOX13 reported.
Both when she announced her cancer diagnosis and when she resigned, Utah legislators rallied around her, Republican and Democrats. Thursday night and into Friday morning, as news of her death spread, Utah politicians from both parties remembered Karen Mayne as someone who worked well across party lines — “a strong force for bipartisan camaraderie,” as Adams put it when she resigned in 2023.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox posted on X that Karen Mayne “was one of the best legislators I’ve ever met.”
“And yet, she was somehow a better human being,” Cox said. “The perfect blend of toughness and compassion, she could bring the fiercest of opponents together to find common sense solutions. We are a better state because of her and worse now that she is gone. We will miss her very much.”
Adams and Escamilla said they will be “forever grateful for the years we were lucky enough to spend working alongside Sen. Mayne.”
“During this time, we witnessed her unwavering dedication, compassion and grace in serving the people of Utah,” Adams and Escamilla said. “Not only was she a confidant of ours but also a source of inspiration, both personally and professionally.”
In her 15 years as a legislator, Adams and Escamilla said Karen Mayne “passionately and successfully advocated for impactful improvements for our state. She was one of the most effective legislators and consistently passed the most bills during sessions.”
“We mourn with and pray for her family during this time of grieving,” Adams and Escamilla said. “Her memory and legacy will remain forever in our hearts as we strive to follow her example of living and serving with love.”
House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, also posted on X, expressing gratitude for his time working alongside her.
“She was a dedicated legislator and kind to everyone she worked with,” Schultz said. “She will be greatly missed. My thoughts are with her family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Read the full story at UtahNewsDispatch.com.
