15 Nov An Election Denier Takes the Gavel: Mike Schultz’s Dangerous Record

SALT LAKE CITY, November 15, 2023 –– Now that Republican Rep. Mike Schultz has been chosen as the Utah GOP’s next Speaker of the House, all Utahns should be reminded of his dangerous record of election denial.

• In November 2021, Schultz signed on to a letter, led by Sen. Wendy Rogers of Arizona, a well-known election-denier and conspiracy theorist. This letter called for the U.S. House to retroactively decertify electoral college votes, which would overturn the 2020 election nearly a year after President Biden’s inauguration.

• Schultz has consistently pushed for costly, taxpayer-funded audits of Utah’s election system, despite absolutely no evidence of election fraud in Utah. Even Republican leaders like Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson called the efforts “destructive” and “very concerning.
  • Lt. Governor Henderson also said: “I am very concerned about any lawmaker who signs on to these notions, that where there is no evidence, and these are baseless allegations and they’re deliberately making them in order to undermine public trust and faith in the foundation of our democratic republic”

“There is absolutely no place in our state for election denial or voter suppression, and, as Mike Schultz takes the Speaker’s gavel, Utahns should remember his history of supporting both. I agree with the Lt. Governor: such efforts are baseless and extremely dangerous,” said Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis. “We simply can’t afford to have an election denier in the Speaker’s chair, especially as Republicans continue to propose bills to end our vote-by-mail system and undermine our elections.”

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The Utah Democratic party is the face and voice of Democrats in the State of Utah. We believe that Utahns deserve strong, competent leadership that puts the people and democracy first. 

For more information, contact Ben Anderson at press@utdem.org or +1 (801) 830-0645.