Jenny Wilson (born November 1, 1965) is an American politician currently serving as the Mayor of

Salt Lake County, Utah Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The cou ...

. In September 2007, she was a primary candidate for mayor of

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 ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. In 2016, she was Utah's national committeewoman for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. She is a daughter of Ted Wilson, a former mayor of Salt Lake City. Wilson was the Democratic nominee in the 2018 Utah Senate race, running against Republican nominee Mitt Romney. After her election defeat, she was appointed to replace Ben McAdams as Salt Lake County Mayor, taking the oath of office in January 2019. She was elected to that position for a full four-year term in the 2020 general election.

Early career

Wilson's background is as a leadership, public relations and media consultant. She has held positions in administration, fundraising and project management for the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers fr ...

and

Film Festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

, the Sundance Group, the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games of 2002, Voices for Utah Children, and 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 John A. Moran Eye Center. In 1991, she served at the federal level as assistant press secretary to U.S. Rep.

Les AuCoin Walter Leslie AuCoin ( ; born October 21, 1942) is an American politician. In 1974 he became the first person from the Democratic Party to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from , since it was formed in 1892. The seat has been hel ...

(D-OR) and from 1992–1996 as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Bill Orton (D-UT). She assisted the Democratic Caucus of the

Utah State Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term li ...

in 1998.

Salt Lake County Council

Wilson served two non-consecutive terms on the Salt Lake County Council, once from 2005 to 2011, and again from 2014 to 2019. On the Council, Wilson supported policy initiatives for ethics reform and open space preservation, and an initiative that provides health benefits to the partners of LGBT county employees. She served as a member of the Salt Lake County Council of Governments and as a board member of the Unified Fire Authority. She also co-founded the Jordan River Commission. Wilson's board and committee assignments included the Sundance Institute Utah Advisory Board,

Utah Museum of Fine Arts The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is the region's primary resource for culture and visual arts. It is located in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building in Salt Lake City, Utah on the University of Utah campus near Rice-Eccles Stadium. Works ...

, Discovery Gateway: Utah Children’s Museum, and Salt Lake Community Action.

2018 U.S. Senate campaign

In July 2017, Wilson announced her intention to run in 2018 for the U.S. Senate against

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senato ...

. In January 2018, Hatch announced he would retire at the end of his seventh term, leaving the seat open. Wilson raised nearly $140,000 in the second-quarter fundraising period. The Republican Party eventually selected 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney to run against Wilson to replace Hatch. Wilson lost the election on November 6, 2018, gaining 328,541 votes to Romney's 665,215. Wilson had raised and spent just under $1 million on her campaign, compared to Romney's $5 million.

Mayor of Salt Lake County

Selection

On January 25, 2019, Salt Lake County Democratic central committee members selected Wilson to serve the remainder of the mayoral term of Ben McAdams, who won election to Congress in the 2018 midterms and resigned to assume his congressional seat. She was sworn in on January 29, 2019 at the Salt Lake County Government Center.

Tenure

Wilson has announced plans to form a new Office of Environmental Services in the county government to focus on improving air quality. Wilson has filed comments with the Utah state Supreme Court asking for

DACA Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive a ...

recipients (known as "Dreamers") to practice law in Utah. In 2020, Wilson was elected to a full term as County Mayor, against

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 ...

Riverton mayor Trent Staggs and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

candidate, environmental activist Michael Cundick.

Personal life

Raised in Salt Lake City, one of five children, Wilson is the daughter of Ted Wilson, mayor of Salt Lake City from 1976–1985, and Kathy Wilson, an artist and small business owner. She graduated from East High School in 1983 and the

in 1988, and received a Masters in Public Administration from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

in 1998. In 2013, she produced and directed a documentary film, ''The Grand Rescue'', about a dramatic three-day rescue by park rangers, one of whom was her father, on the

North Face North face or Northface or The North Face may refer to: * North face (Eiger), in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland * North Face (Everest), in Himalaya, usually traversed ascending Everest from the north * North face (Fairview Dome), a climbing route ...

of the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain in Grand Teton National Park, in Northwest Wyoming, and a classic destination in American mountaineering. Geography Grand Teton, at , is the highest point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in t ...

. Wilson and her husband, Trell Rohovit, have two children.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jenny 1965 births 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American Latter Day Saints Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Mayors of Salt Lake County, Utah Politicians from Salt Lake City University of Utah alumni Utah city council members Utah Democrats Women city councillors in Utah Women in Utah politics Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections