Sean David Reyes is an American lawyer and politician who has been the
Attorney General of Utah since 2013. Appointed to the office by Governor
Gary Herbert
Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle.
Herbert wo ...
following the resignation of
John Swallow, Reyes was subsequently reelected. Reyes is a member of the
Republican Party and has served as a county, state, and national delegate for the Republican Party and a member of the Utah Republican Party's State Central Committee.
Early life and education
Reyes was raised in the
Los Angeles area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Cou ...
. His father was an immigrant from the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and of half-Filipino and half-Spanish descent. His mother was of half-
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawa ...
and half-Japanese descent.
[Doug Robinson]
Sean Reyes — Out of the 'hood, into the AG's office
''Deseret News'' (January 10, 2016). He is a cousin of former
Philippine
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
President
Ramon Magsaysay
Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh president of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an aircraft disaster on March 17, 1957. An automo ...
.
Reyes earned his bachelor's degree ''
summa cum laude'' from
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
in 1994.
[ He graduated from ]University of California, Berkeley School of Law
The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...
(Boalt Hall) in 1997.[Sean Reyes '97 Wins First ABA National Outstanding Young Lawyer Award]
University of California, Berkeley School of Law (November 29, 2007).
Early career
Reyes spent 14 years working at Utah's largest law firm, Parsons Behle & Latimer,[Robert Gehrke]
Reyes tackles tall tasks as Utah's new attorney general
''Salt Lake Tribune'' (December 31, 2013). where he became the first person of color to become a partner. He practiced commercial litigation and employment law.[ He later became general counsel for eTAGz, a ]Springville, Utah
Springville is a city in Utah County, Utah that is part of the Provo–Orem metropolitan area. The population was 35,268 in 2020, according to the United States Census. Springville is a bedroom community for commuters who work in the Provo-Ore ...
-based media and technology company that aimed to develop products for embedding digital files on packaging.[ He was also a partner and co-founder of the ]venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
firm Accelerate Ventures,[Tony Romm]
Trump transition weighing Utah attorney general for FTC
''Politico'' (January 17, 2017). a state small claims court
Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may ...
judge,[Swallow vs. Reyes: A Heated GOP Race for Utah's Next Attorney General]
Utah Public Radio. and president of the Minority Bar Association.[
]
Utah Attorney General
Elections
Reyes ran for attorney general of Utah in 2012 against John Swallow. He lost the primary election by a margin of 68 to 32 percent. After Swallow resigned amid scandal in December 2013,[ Reyes was selected by the ]Utah Republican Party
The Utah Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all four of Utah's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the governorship, and has sup ...
State Central Committee as one of three candidates to fill the vacancy (on December 14, 2013), and Governor Gary Herbert
Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle.
Herbert wo ...
appointed Reyes to the position (on December 23, 2013).
Because of Utah's election laws, Reyes had to run in the 2014 Utah elections to be elected to finish out the remainder of Swallow's term. He won with 63.06 percent of the vote over his Democratic challenger, Charles A. Stormont, and Libertarian candidate Andrew McCullough.
In 2016, members of the Latter Day Church of Christ
The Latter Day Church of Christ, is considered a Mormon fundamentalist denomination by some in the Latter Day Saint movement. Also known as the LDCJC, the Kingston Clan, and The Order, it is a religious organization created by members of the Dav ...
, a Mormon fundamentalist
Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, ...
denomination, donated to Reyes' campaign for attorney general individually and through Washakie Renewable Energy, a business partially owned by members of the LDCC. Reyes' representatives indicated in response to these reports that the contributions had been placed in escrow
An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a third party (the stakeholder or escrow agent) receives and disburses money or property for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacti ...
.
In 2020, Reyes ran for a third term. He was challenged for the Republican nomination by Utah County
Utah County is the second-most populous county in the U.S. state of Utah. The county seat and largest city is Provo, which is the state's third-largest city, and the largest outside of Salt Lake County. As of the 2020 United States Census, the ...
Attorney David Leavitt, but won the Republican renomination in the July 2020 primary election with 54.04% of the vote. In the November 2020 general election, Reyes was reelected, defeating Democratic nominee Greg Skordas.[
During the ]2020 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**C ...
, Reyes was an elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
. Unable to serve because of COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
self-quarantine, Mia Love was nominated as a replacement elector.
Tenure
As attorney general, Reyes frequently joined other Republican state attorneys general who sued the Obama administration on various issues, ranging from federal lands
Federal lands are lands in the United States owned by the federal government. Pursuant to the Property Clause of the United States Constitution ( Article 4, section 3, clause 2), Congress has the power to retain, buy, sell, and regulate federal l ...
use to transgender rights
A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...
.[
Immediately after taking office, Reyes appealed U.S. District Judge ]Robert J. Shelby
Robert James Shelby (born March 13, 1970) is an American attorney and judge serving as the United States federal judge, Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
Early life and education
Sh ...
's ruling that struck down Amendment 3, the state's same-sex marriage ban. The estimated $2 million price tag in appealing Shelby's ruling was criticized by ''The Advocate'', ''Daily Kos
Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism.
Daily Kos was ...
'', and ThinkProgress
''ThinkProgress'' was an American progressive news website that was active from 2005 to 2019. It was a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Found ...
. In response, Reyes stated, "We're willing to spend whatever it takes to protect the laws and the will of the people" and that "everyone benefits from appealing the case." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Colorado
* District of Kansas
* Distri ...
upheld the district court's ruling; Reyes petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
for review, but the court denied his request to hear the case.
In 2020, after the New York Attorney General
The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...
sued the National Rifle Association, asserting that Wayne LaPierre
Wayne Robert LaPierre Jr. (born November 8, 1949) is an American gun rights lobbyist who is CEO and executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a position he has held since 1991.
Personal background
Wayne Robert LaPierr ...
and other NRA officials unlawfully misappropriated NRA funds for personal expenses and self-enrichment, Reyes joined Arkansas Attorney General
The Attorney General of Arkansas, usually known simply as the Attorney General (AG), is one of Arkansas's seven constitutional officers. The officeholder serves as the state's top law enforcement officer and consumer advocate. Since January 13, ...
Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge (born June 9, 1976) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Arkansas, served as the 56th attorney general of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. She is the 21st lieutenant governor of Arkansas, since 2023. Rutledge ...
in filing an amicus brief challenging the New York suit. Reyes asserted that the New York AG was discriminating against the NRA.[Bryan Schott]
Utah's Sean Reyes signs on to support lawsuit seeking to protect the NRA
''Salt Lake Tribune'' (December 24, 2020).
Trump support
Reyes is a vocal and longtime supporter of Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
.[Dan Harrie]
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes praises Trump as 'warrior' against human trafficking
''Salt Lake Tribune'' (August 27, 2020). In late-January 2017, Reyes was named as a top candidate for the chairmanship of the Federal Trade Commission by officials in the Trump administration. He praised Trump in a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention
The 2020 Republican National Convention in which delegates of the United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election, was held from August 24 to 27, 202 ...
,[ and Trump endorsed him in his 2020 primary.][Sean Reyes bests GOP challenger in attorney general race]
Associated Press (July 3, 2020). Reyes was also named Utah state co-chairman of Trump's reelection campaign.[ In September 2020, during the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, Reyes appeared in the front row of an indoor Trump rally in Nevada, without social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dis ...
from other attendees and without wearing a 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 ...
, garnering criticism.
=Unsuccessful attempt to overturn Trump's 2020 election defeat
=
In November 2020, Reyes took several days leave to go to Nevada in a bid to bolster the Trump campaign's claims of purported voter fraud in neighboring Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
. Reyes claimed that "voting irregularities" occurred but never provided any evidence for this claim.[Taylor Stevens]
Nevada attorney general criticizes Utah's Sean Reyes for his unfounded claims of voting irregularities
''Salt Lake Tribune'' (November 11, 2020). Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford noted that there was no evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 Nevada elections, stated that Reyes had not returned his telephone calls or text messages, and termed his conduct "disrespectful" to Nevada.[ A number of Utah officials, as well as the United Utah Party, criticized Reyes for baselessly undermining faith in the democratic process without evidence.][
In December 2020, Reyes joined a group of 16 other Republican ]state attorneys general
The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney genera ...
in a failed lawsuit to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. His participation in the suit was criticized by the outgoing Utah Governor, Gary Herbert
Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle.
Herbert wo ...
, and his successor, Lieutenant Governor and Governor-elect Spencer Cox. Utahns created a petition calling for Reyes's recall. The suit, which attempted to invoke the U.S. Supreme Court's original jurisdiction
In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision.
India
In India, the S ...
, was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative.
Paxton was re-elected to a t ...
, against Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, four swing state
In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pres ...
s in which Joe Biden defeated Trump. The suit repeated Trump's false and disproven claims that the election was marred by widespread voter fraud. Such assertions by Trump and his allies had already been rejected in other state and federal courts. Paxton asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the states' 62 electoral votes, allowing Trump to be declared the winner. Legal experts stated that the suit was meritless. Election law expert Rick Hasen
Richard L. Hasen is an American legal scholar and law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an expert in legislation, election law and campaign finance.
Early life and education
Hasen received his Bachelor of Arts with hi ...
described the lawsuit as "the dumbest case I've ever seen filed on an emergency basis at the Supreme Court." Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse
Benjamin Eric Sasse ( ; born February 22, 1972) is an American politician and academic administrator serving as the junior United States senator for Nebraska since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Born in Plainview, Nebraska, Sa ...
said the situation of Paxton initiating the lawsuit "looks like a fella begging for a pardon filed a PR stunt
In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...
"; at the time he brought the suit, Paxton was facing a federal securities fraud charge and allegations of abuse of office allegations). On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court quickly rejected the suit which Reyes had joined, in an unsigned opinion.
Personal life
Reyes and his wife Saysha have six children.
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
(LDS Church), Reyes was a bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
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 ...
for five years in his early career.[
]
See also
*Asian Americans in politics
Asian Americans represent a growing share of the national population and of the electorate. The lower political participation of Asian Americans has been raised as a concern, especially as it relates to their influence on Politics of the United St ...
* Hispanic Americans in politics
* Politics of Utah
Electoral history
References
External links
Utah Attorney General's Office website
Campaign website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reyes, Sean
21st-century American politicians
American jurists of Filipino descent
American politicians of Filipino descent
Brigham Young University alumni
Latter Day Saints from California
Living people
UC Berkeley School of Law alumni
Utah Attorneys General
Utah lawyers
Utah Republicans
Utah state court judges
Asian-American people in Utah politics
Year of birth missing (living people)
Asian conservatism in the United States
21st-century American lawyers