FairVote Board Member and former Utah GOP Chair Stan Lockhart shares his
thoughts on the assassination of Charlie Kirk.


Dear John,

As we try to process the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk and rising tide of
political violence, I’ve been grateful to have the chance to speak with Stan
Lockhart. Stan serves on the FairVote Board and is a longtime Utahn who is
closely associated with Utah Valley University, where this horrific act took
place. He shared his thoughts on the events of last week:

I have a deep connection with Utah Valley University. I have children who have
graduated from there. I’ve been honored to chair the boards of the university’s
College of Science and College of Health Sciences & Public Service. The campus
arena is named after my late wife Becky, a former speaker of the Utah House of
Representatives.

Until last week, Utah Valley was best known as the largest university in Utah, a
welcoming and inclusive campus where students from all walks and stages of life
came to get an education and build a better future. But that image was shattered
by the assassination of Charlie Kirk. I am heartbroken. Our community is still
reeling – just as our nation is.

This act of political mayhem was an attack on all of us. Last week it was
Charlie Kirk, but before that it was Minnesota State Representative Melissa
Hortman and her husband. And before that there were two attempts to kill
President Trump. It's also the death threats on the lives of Utah legislators
whom I’ve known and worked alongside for decades. This terrorism must stop now.

These acts of violence destroy families and communities. But they also pose a
threat to our very republic. America’s Framers built our great, pluralistic
nation on the foundation of free speech. When political figures cannot speak
freely without fearing for their lives, that foundation is at risk. Our
Governor, Spencer Cox, may very well have been right when he said, “Kirk's
assassination represented a watershed moment in American history.”

Change will not happen on its own. But we have solved similar problems in the
past in our country, and I’m optimistic that we can solve this problem too. In
the coming weeks and months, I look forward to discussion in our community and
nation about how to dial back the hatred, and respond to our political
differences through debate and at the ballot box.

My late wife Becky taught me a great deal about loving those who believe
differently than her when she was Utah speaker of the house. By any measure,
Becky was one of the most conservative members in the Utah legislature. Yet two
of her friends were the two minority leaders she served with, David Litvack and
Jen Seelig. In spite of deep disagreements on philosophy and policy, and much
more often than not voting on different sides of bellwether issues, there was
deep mutual respect. Becky genuinely loved these legislative colleagues and they
loved her too, grieving for her when she died. We could all learn a lesson from
this.

In this watershed moment, I’m proud to be a FairVote board member and part of
the larger election reform movement. We don’t have all the answers. Nobody does.
But we do believe that improving the way we vote can turn down the temperature
of our politics. It is but one small part of the path forward – a path to
dialogue, to vigorous but respectful disagreement, to a healthy republic.

I hope that, in the wake of Charlie’s death, we do not turn inward or blame
others. That we try to speak to – and better understand – those with whom we
disagree. And in that process, that each of us keeps trying to change what is
unacceptable, and to make things better.

The need to make things better feels more urgent than ever.

Kindest regards,
Stan

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