Christopher Lewis Peterson (born 1975) is an American attorney, legal scholar, and political candidate working as the John J. Flynn Endowed Professor of Law at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

S.J. Quinney College of Law. Peterson was the Democratic nominee for the

2020 Utah gubernatorial election The 2020 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the governor of Utah, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House ...

, losing to Republican Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox. Peterson specializes in consumer protection law. He served as a finance official for the Obama administration, where he focused on protecting

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

members from

predatory lending Predatory lending refers to unethical practices conducted by lending organizations during a loan origination process that are unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent. While there are no internationally agreed legal definitions for predatory lending, a 200 ...

Early life and education

Born and raised in

West Valley City, Utah West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, quic ...

, Peterson attended public schools. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and Juris Doctor from the

Career

After graduating from law school, Peterson worked in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

before returning as a professor at his alma mater. In 2012–2016 he was on leave to work in

, where he worked in various roles including as a Special Advisor in the Office of the Director at the

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mo ...

(CFPB), in the Office of Legal Policy for Personnel and Readiness in the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

, and as senior counsel for enforcement policy and strategy in the CFPB's Office of Enforcement. In 2018, he was elected fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Lawyers.

Utah's 2020 gubernatorial election

Peterson announced his candidacy for

governor of Utah A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

on March 4, 2020. In April his campaign secured 88.4 percent of the vote during the Democratic Primary Convention. On April 20 he announced Karina Brown, a Cache County resident as his running mate for Lieutenant governor. Brown is a healthcare and

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

expansion advocate and was a signatory on Proposition 3 to expand healthcare coverage to 150,000 low income Utahns. Voters approved Proposition 3 in 2018, but it was later replaced by elected state leaders. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Utah The COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. state of Utah in early March 2020 with travel-related cases. Residents stockpiled goods, large conferences were made remote-only, postponed, or cancelled; a state of emergency was declared, and some public ...

Peterson initially supported leaving

face mask The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human Personal identity, identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental d ...

mandates to local governments until cases in Utah spiked, before urging for a statewide mandate. According to his campaign website Peterson supports increased funding for education in Utah including higher teacher compensation and more funds for supplies. He also supports expanding access to affordable health care, safeguarding consumer rights, and stopping

gerrymandering In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

. His campaign website also states he wants to improve

air quality in Utah Air quality in Utah is often some of the worst in the United States. Poor air quality in Utah is due to the mountainous topography which can cause pollutants to build up near the surface (especially during inversions) combined with the prevalenc ...

, which at times has been poorest in the nation. Peterson encouraged

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate Spencer Cox to public debates as early as July, but the Cox campaign ignored or refused requests stating it was too early.

Personal life

He lives in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

and is married to Tera Peterson who is also a practicing attorney. They have three children.

References

External links

Christopher Lewis Peterson
faculty webpage
Campaign website

Ballotpedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Christopher Living people People from West Valley City, Utah University of Utah alumni University of Utah faculty Candidates in the 2020 United States elections People of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Utah Democrats 1975 births