Utah women will see a record-breaking level of representation at the Capitol next year, slowly peeling away from its former last-in-the-nation ranking for gender equality. But even after gains in the 2024 election, as 32 women head to the Legislature, the proportion of women in the state’s lawmaking bodies will remain below one-third.
Representation for many of Utah’s communities of color similarly lags behind — 91.3% of the 2025 Utah Legislature is white, despite nearly a quarter of the state’s population identifying as a race or ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white.
Diversity in the Legislature is lowest among the Republican supermajority, reflecting a nationwide pattern for the party. Approximately 83.3% of GOP lawmakers are men, and 98.8% are white. Every member of the party’s leadership is white, and one of the eight is a woman.
Three-quarters of Democratic lawmakers, on the other hand, are women, and 60% are white. Leadership positions for minority caucuses in both chambers are mostly held by women, with one exception, and the Democrats elected Latinas to the top spots.
In an effort to bring more Republican women to the Capitol, a group of lawmakers launched a political action committee — Republican Women Lead — three years ago. In 2025, there will be five more Republican women serving in the Legislature than there were then.
“In a supermajority Republican state, we have plenty of qualified, fantastic women who would make great candidates and policymakers,” Rep. Candice Pierucci, of Riverton, said at the PAC’s launch in 2021. “Conservative female voices are needed nationally.”
Despite being home to the first woman in the country to be elected a state senator, and being the first place where a woman legally cast a ballot, Utah in recent decades has fallen near the bottom of state rankings in terms of political representation.
As the Utah Legislature continues to make policy around reproductive health rights since the U.S. Supreme Court handed the issue to states in 2022, men hold a supermajority in both the House and Senate.
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Sen. Stephanie Pitcher plays with her daughters Penelope, 4, and Charlotte, 6, at a park near their home in Salt Lake City in 2018. The number of women in the Utah Legislature will reach a historic high in 2025 at 30.8%.
Most of the women in the Legislature are also mothers, many mothers of minor children, according to an analysis by Vote Mama Foundation, who offer unique perspectives on issues like child care, education, health care and housing. Research shows that at the federal level, working mothers elected to office are more likely to introduce legislation that addresses problems that specifically affect parents and children.
In a February report assessing the status of women in Utah politics — which it characterized as a “call to action for Utah residents and leaders” — the Utah Women & Leadership Project at Utah State University wrote, “[I]t is time to get serious about diversifying the voices on Utah’s Capitol Hill, and in the counties, cities, and towns throughout our state. Representation is crucial; all Utahns will benefit from the perspectives and leadership that women can provide.”
Both women and people of color can face long lists of barriers to holding public office — from societal attitudes to discrimination; the cost of running a campaign; having to build political connections; and surmounting obstacles to attaining an education and establishing a career.
One of the most underrepresented groups in the Legislature is Hispanic Utahns, who make up approximately 16% of the state’s population, according to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, but just 2.9% of state lawmakers.
With Gov. Spencer Cox enlisting the Legislature to make policies to support President-elect Donald Trump’s “mass deportation” efforts, non-Hispanic lawmakers will have a disproportionate say in how that is carried out as civil rights groups raise concerns that it could lead to discriminatory policing.
In a statement after Cox announced his plan last week, Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla and House Minority Leader Angela Romero, who also chairs the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, wrote, “While we all want to hold criminals accountable and ensure public safety, this approach risks creating fear and misrepresenting undocumented individuals, many of whom contribute significantly to Utah’s economy, culture and workforce.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, answer questions during a news conference on the final night of the Utah Legislature’s 2024 general session on Friday, March 1, 2024, at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City.
The Pacific Islander population in Utah — which is the only continental state with more than 1% of its population identifying as Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander — achieved proportional representation this election, going from zero lawmakers from their communities to three.
Along with Republican Rep.-elect Doug Fiefia, Democratic Reps.-elect Verona Mauga and Jake Fitisemanu will both head to the Capitol in January.
In a statement from the Democrats’ campaigns, both reflected on the historic nature of the election and the significance of their voices being added to the Legislature, with Mauga saying she looks forward to “collaborating with my colleagues to make Utah a more compassionate and thriving place for everyone.”
Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.
