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Hello John,
Last week was hard.
Over the last few months, we’ve knocked on over 6,000 doors, registered 747 voters, and made over 10,000 phone calls in Utah . Our team worked hard to reach our communities and support candidates who share our climate and democracy mission. While we have spent the last week processing what a second Trump presidency means, we have also already begun brainstorming where we go from here.
Unfortunately, Donald Trump taking the White House and the Senate and House flipping to an anti-environment majority is not good news. Threats to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, and clean water have already been made, and Utah’s public lands have long been a point of contention between the state and federal government (have you heard about Utah’s latest lawsuit and misuse of taxpayer money [[link removed]] ?).
The reality of the next four years is that this work will be hard. Still, fortunately, while only some candidates we supported won their races, we built relationships with new and returning legislators to pass policies that will create lasting change for Utah. Elections are just one part of the process. Without supporting good candidates through the election cycle, we won’t get legislators who stand with us in our efforts. Without relationships with legislators, we cannot pass good policies to protect the land, air, water, and democracy for all Utahns.
Elections are hard work, requiring many people to make them happen. Thank you to every candidate who ran this year and chose to work with us. This election cycle we tried something new in Utah– the Independent strategy. We hoped to offer unaffiliated candidates to voters in local races that were tired of partisan politics. While our two unaffiliated candidates, Jessica Wignall and Patrick Belmont , did outperform their previous Democratic candidates, they both lost to their Republican opponents. We are thrilled to welcome Jake Fitisemanu, a West Valley City councilman and strong environmental supporter, to the state House of Representatives. Sadly, Rosemary Lesser , the only Democrat in the State Legislature from outside Salt Lake County and a friend of the environment, will not be coming back this session–losing to her Republican opponent by less than 300 votes.
In our local races, we sadly did not gain a pro-environment majority in either Salt Lake County or Grand County. We are excited to share that Trisha Hedin and Jacques Hadler will be serving on the Grand County commission, although we wish they could be joined by Ashley Korenblat and Jason Ramsdell, two other incredible climate advocates who unfortunately lost their races. Similarly, we are excited to have Natalie Pinkney, Ross Romero, and Jenny Wilson in office in Salt Lake County, though we wish they could have been joined by Zach Robinson and Katie Olson.
While these losses are disheartening, it is important to note that we did not lose any progressive seats in the legislature. Given the ramifications of the federal election, not losing ground is crucial to moving the needle on progressive policies in the state.
www.stewardshiputah.org [www.stewardshiputah.org]
So how can you get involved in our work? Here are three ways to support us and advocate for your communities:
* One of the best things you can do is donate [[link removed]] . This work is hard and expensive. We use your dollars to recruit and support candidates, provide educational opportunities to our community members, and mobilize voters across the state. Your support allows us to do even more of this.
* If you live in Utah, consider signing up to volunteer and join us for lobbying days at the legislature during the 2025 session. [[link removed]] Lobbying days are crucial to developing relationships with lawmakers and the people they represent. Don’t let legislators make decisions on your behalf without first hearing your voice.
* We need good people who care about the future of our state, and the people and environment within it, in office. We know running for office can be intimidating and hard, but we want to help you. If running for office has ever crossed your mind, please reach out to our Elections Manager, Travis [[email protected]] , with any questions you may have about the process.
Stewardship Utah will also be joining Senate Candidate Caroline Gleich tomorrow (November 14th) afternoon from 3 to 4 PM to discuss where we go from here.
RSVP [[link removed]]
Thank you for standing with us, supporting our work, and participating in our democracy. We are excited to dig deeper into our mission as we gear up to protect our lands, air, water, and democracy for all Utahns.
Onwards,
www.stewardshiputah.org [www.stewardshiputah.org] TJ Ellerbeck,
Co-Executive Director
[email protected] [[email protected]]
www.stewardshiputah.org [[link removed]]
www.stewardshiputah.org [www.stewardshiputah.org] David Garbett
Co-Executive Director
[email protected] [[email protected]]
www.stewardshiputah.org [[link removed]]
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Stewardship Utah
68 E 2700 S
South Salt Lake, UT 84115
United States
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