Anti-trans PAC attacking lawmakers received key funding from one of Utah’s most powerful politicians

A key funder of a shadowy anti-transgender political action committee that attacked Democratic state lawmakers and candidates in the weeks leading up to last month’s election is one of the most powerful Republicans in Utah, according to the PAC’s first disclosure of a contribution filed Saturday.

House Speaker Mike Schultz gave $120,000 to the PAC, according to a campaign finance report.

Ads attributed to the PAC were left in mailboxes, sent over text and driven through Salt Lake City streets on mobile billboards declaring that Democratic lawmakers “voted against Utah’s girls” in opposing legislation that curtails transgender Utahns’ rights.

Until Saturday, more than three weeks after the election, the funders of the ads had been completely obscured. As the deadline for reporting spending and donations before the general election passed in late October, despite having already extensively advertised against Democratic lawmakers, the PAC said it had raised $0 and spent $0.

The only officers listed for the PAC, which says it is based in Wisconsin, are Thomas Datwyler and Timothy Datwyler — renowned treasurers for Republican candidates and campaign committees that champion their causes. Among Thomas Datwyler’s clients are U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, U.S. Rep.-elect Mike Kennedy and former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes.

At least one complaint has been filed against the PAC for possible violations of campaign finance laws. A spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, whose office oversees campaign finance reporting in Utah, said they would work to find answers as to what efforts had been made to investigate those allegations.

The PAC criticized 13 of 14 Democrats in the House of Representatives, leaving out one lawmaker who lost his primary bid. Attack ads included a text that read, “In [Rep.] Sandra Hollins’ world it is perfectly fine to let men use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms,” and a truck fixed with an LED screen that showed the image of Utah’s only openly LGBTQ+ lawmaker, Rep. Sahara Hayes, with a message urging her constituents to “vote against” her.

At one point the PAC’s website criticized two Senate Republicans for votes against laws that restrict transgender Utahns’ rights — Sens. Daniel Thatcher and Todd Weiler — but later removed references to them.

House Minority Leader Angela Romero said she was “disappointed” to learn that Schultz was a major donor to the PAC, which targeted her reelection campaign, too.

She said that although most of the feedback she received from constituents about the ads came in the form of support for her votes, she received some threatening messages. Romero said that highlights her biggest concern about the ads: How they are impacting transgender Utahns and those close to them.

Schultz did not answer calls from a reporter, and his voicemail storage was full. The Salt Lake Tribune asked a legislative spokesperson to relay a series of questions, including whether Schultz played a decision-making role and whether he knew who organized the PAC.

In response, Schultz provided a statement: “Defending Utah values is the right thing to do. These principles are the foundation of who we are and I will always fight to protect them.”

Despite efforts from the PAC, House Democrats maintained the size of their caucus — losing their only member outside of Salt Lake County, but gaining a seat in the population center. Rep. Rosemary Lesser, of Ogden, faced an onslaught of the ads, which she said were misleading.

Outside of the money he routed to Preserving Utah Values PAC, Schultz and other Republican lawmakers invested over $117,000 to replace Lesser with a Republican. Romero said she was confident that the PAC’s messaging played a role in Lesser’s loss.

Schultz has been vocal as to where he falls on transgender rights. While lawmakers in his role officially sit on a number of committees, the speaker rarely attends meetings and votes. He made an exception earlier this year to support a bill that barred transgender Utahns from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity in government-owned buildings during a House Business and Labor Committee meeting.

An investigation by The Tribune of arguments made by GOP lawmakers during debates over that bill found that misinformation about transgender people was repeatedly employed to justify restricting their access to restrooms — including falsely casting transgender Utahns as predators and minimizing the number of hate crimes the community faces.