Longtime Democrat and former chair of the party, Glenn Wright is no stranger to running for office. He served on the Summit County Council for six years and retired in 2022. During his last year on the council, he ran for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District seat and lost by a considerable margin.
Wright announced in December he’s running again for the 3rd District which covers Carbon, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Grand, Salt Lake, San Juan, Summit, Uintah, Utah and Wasatch counties. He said many things have changed since his last run.
“Number one is my availability. I was on the county council two years ago. And I told the state party, they needed somebody to run, I said, ‘OK, I'll do it. But I can't let my county council job suffer.’ So I didn't really have much time to either campaign or to raise money. This year I'm fully retired, it's a full-time campaign.”
Wright said he feels two national issues are very important locally, which he plans to highlight in his campaign. Those are the potential second term of former Pres. Trump and the crisis unfolding with women’s reproductive rights. He said Trump is a clear and present danger to the Constitution, republic and democracy.
He plans to issue a challenge to his 10 Republican opponents on whether they support Trump for president and hopes to push them to choose between Trump or protecting and defending the Constitution, the oath of any elected official.
Wright said women’s reproductive rights and the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a critical issue for Utahns. And his campaign focuses on it.
“I believe this is a human rights issue and human rights, I believe, are superior to states’ rights and Roe v. Wade gave women and their families 50 years of human rights on this issue. I pledge to vote to codify the Roe decision with federal legislation.”
Wright added he has many advisers on this topic, some are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He says he’s learning it is threatening Utahns’ ability to decide when they want to start and expand their families. Wright added there’s real danger of adverse health outcomes for pregnant women when the full scope of health care isn’t available to them.
Wright is running unopposed as the nominee for the Democratic party, facing 10 Republican challengers.
Utah’s primary election is June 25 followed by the general election Nov. 5.
