He declined to take a position on what will likely be the next phase of tax reform — debate over eliminating a constitutional amendment that dedicates income tax revenues to public and higher education. Jon Huntsman, Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton, Provo businessman Jeff Burningham, former Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright and Jason Christensen are also declared GOP candidates for Utah governor. Former state lawmaker Mike Noel, a polarizing figure in his own right, commended Hughes as the “best conservative in the state of Utah,” someone who would fight for ranchers, farmers and other rural residents if he moves into the Governor’s Mansion. In 2002, he was elected to the Utah House of Representatives. [9], Hughes was unopposed in the 2004 and 2006 elections. Greg is known for his ability to get things done by bringing opposing sides together to develop unique Utah-solutions to controversial issues such as medical cannabis, justice reform, developing the inland port, and protecting religious freedom while opposing discrimination. “And that’s who I want to run for.”. (Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Surrounded by friends, family and supporters, former House Speaker Greg Hughes announces his campaign …
Gubernatorial candidate Greg Hughes has named Washington County Commissioner Chair Victor Iverson as his running mate heading into the competitive Republican primary. He opted not to run for re-election in 2018. Utah Lt. Gov. Greg Hughes grew up in a rough blue-collar neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [10] In 2008, Hughes faced Margaret Bird in the Republican primary. In April 2011, Greg Hughes and former House Majority Leader Kevin Garn formed a company together to construct an apartment building on land that Hughes owned in downtown Salt Lake City. With Hughes in the race, there are now seven Republicans in the running for the state’s top executive spot. “I worked for four years with the speaker, and I’ve seen him say yes to a lot of hard stuff when other people for political reasons or whatever would say no,” Gibson, R-Mapleton, said. “I don’t have time for blue ribbon panels and task forces. After serving a mission for his church, Greg moved to Utah to work on a political campaign and ended up staying, attending Utah Valley State College and BYU. The 50-year-old Pittsburgh native served in the Utah House of Representatives for 15 years, leading the chamber from 2015 to 2018. He also was a board member and chairman of the Utah Transit Authority during a time of scandals over sweetheart deals with developers, high executive salaries and international travel. [4][5] Hughes earned an Associate degree from Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University) and attended briefly Brigham Young University. Several months later, UTA chose a separate company owned by Garn to develop several transit-oriented developments. “We need a governor that’s willing to keep moving forward.”. In January 2020, Hughes announced his candidacy for the 2020 Utah gubernatorial election. We need to move now,” Hughes said next to a neon sign that blazed with the message, “Get It Done.”.
He fought to increase education funding at historic levels ($1.7 billion) while cutting taxes.
Known as a scrapper who has sometimes stepped on toes to achieve his goals and shrugged off, rather than avoided, controversy, Hughes most recently was a leader of the Operation Rio Grande effort to curb crime and better control the large population of people experiencing homelessness in downtown Salt Lake City. Greg Hughes grew up in a rough blue-collar neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hughes attended Utah Valley State College and Brigham Young University. Hughes was the UTA board chairman at that time, and did not disclose a business relationship with Garn.