Patrice M. Arent (born February 3, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district conta ...

, representing the state's 36th house district through 2020.

Early life and career

Arent was born February 3, 1956, in Utah. She received her B.S. from 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 ...

in 1978 and her J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1981. Before becoming a member of the House of Representatives, she worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Utah Attorney General's Office from 1989-1995. She currently lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and two children. She is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Political career

Arent was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 1996 where she has served as Democratic Whip and Assistant Democratic Whip. In 2002, because of legislative redistricting, she would have had to run against another incumbent Democratic representative to remain in her House seat. Rather than run for a fourth term in the House, Arent successfully ran to represent

District 4 District 4 can refer to: * District 4, Düsseldorf, in Germany * District 4, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia * District 4 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam * District 4 (New York City Council), in the United States *IV District, Turku The IV Distr ...

in the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

. She served in the Utah Senate from 2003 through 2006. Arent was elected Democratic National Committeewoman from Utah at the 2008 State Democratic Convention. She represented Utah as a " superdelegate" at the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The convent ...

in Denver, Colorado, and helped nominate

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States. In 2010, she returned to public office as the Representative of District 36 in the Utah House of Representatives. She was reelected in 2012 with 60% of the vote. She was reelected in 2014 with 67.8% of the vote. In 2011, the Utah Democratic Party awarded her the Eleanor Roosevelt Award. The award was presented on October 27, 2011, at

This is the Place Heritage Park This is the Place Heritage Park is a List of Utah State Parks, Utah State Park that is located on the east side of Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, at the foot of the Wasatch Range and near the mouth of Emigration Canyon, Utah, Emigration Ca ...

in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was selected by a committee of past award winners. Past award winners include former Congresswoman Karen Shepherd and State Senator Karen Mayne. During the 2016 legislative session, Arent served on the Executive Appropriations Committee, the Business, Economic Development, and Labor Appropriations Subcommittee, the House Government Operations Committee, and the House Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee.

2016 sponsored legislation

Arent passed five of the eight bills she introduced, giving her a 62.5% passage rate. She did not floor sponsor any bills during the 2016 general session.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arent, Patrice M 1956 births Living people Cornell Law School alumni Democratic Party members of the Utah House of Representatives University of Utah alumni Women state legislators in Utah Lawyers from Salt Lake City American women lawyers American lawyers Women in Utah politics 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians Jewish American state legislators in Utah 21st-century American Jews 21st-century Utah politicians