Brett Garner
Brett Garner (Democratic Party) is a member of the Utah House of Representatives, representing District 31. He assumed office on January 30, 2023. His current term ends on January 1, 2025.
Garner (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Utah House of Representatives to represent District 31. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on June 25, 2024.
Garner was appointed to the Utah House of Representatives to replace former Rep. Karen Kwan (D).
Biography
Brett Garner was born in West Valley City, Utah. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in 2005. He also studied at Southern Utah University.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Garner was assigned to the following committees:
- House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee
- House Education Committee
- Transportation Committee
Elections
2024
See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Utah House of Representatives District 31
Verona Mauga and Andrew Nieto are running in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 31 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Verona Mauga (D)  | |
 | Andrew Nieto (R) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Verona Mauga advanced from the Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 31.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brett Garner (D)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Andrew Nieto advanced from the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 31.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Russ Moore (R)
Democratic convention
Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 31
Verona Mauga defeated incumbent Brett Garner in the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 31 on March 30, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Verona Mauga (D) | 73.2 | 30 |
 | Brett Garner (D) | 26.8 | 11 | |
| Total votes: 41 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican convention
Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 31
Andrew Nieto advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 31 on April 13, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Andrew Nieto (R) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Russ Moore (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2020
See also: Utah State Board of Education election, 2020
General election
Special general election for Utah State Board of Education District 3
Matt Hymas defeated Brett Garner in the special general election for Utah State Board of Education District 3 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Matt Hymas (R) | 59.5 | 43,331 |
| Brett Garner (D) | 40.5 | 29,533 | |
| Total votes: 72,864 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic convention
Special Democratic convention for Utah State Board of Education District 3
Brett Garner advanced from the special Democratic convention for Utah State Board of Education District 3 on April 25, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Brett Garner (D) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican convention
Special Republican convention for Utah State Board of Education District 3
Matt Hymas defeated incumbent Laurieann Thorpe in the special Republican convention for Utah State Board of Education District 3 on April 25, 2020.
Candidate | ||
 | Laurieann Thorpe (R) | |
| ✔ | | Matt Hymas (R) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Garner's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Brett Garner did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Brett Garner completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Garner's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I am a fifth-generation Utahn, husband to a fantastic special education teacher, son of a retired 40+ year kindergarten teacher, and father of two amazing boys. I have worked to protect Utah's schools from vouchers, help create and manage distribution of curriculum about Utah's historic architecture for thousands of students, and worked in the e-commerce and outdoor recreation fields.
I believe that our schools are the vital resource for parents, students, and our broader society. They are the key to our economy and our democracy.
I believe the state board of education needs advocates for public education to ensure that taxpayer money is spent wisely and that our students can achieve high standards.
To do this, we need teacher-driven innovation, parental involvement, and equal opportunities for students of all abilities and backgrounds.
- Maintaining and increasing education funding. While the legislature and governor set the budget, the board must make it clear to them that reductions in funding will reduce our state's economic recovery and competitiveness.
- Teacher-driven innovation, combined with parental involvement, will help our students cope with COVID-19 challenges. The Board should continue to set standards but not mandate punitive, flawed testing strategies.
- Transparency and availability. I will make a goal to visit each school in the Board District, continue social media updates, and engage with the news media to ensure our tax dollars are spent wisely.
Children with special needs-As the husband of a special education teacher, I strongly believe the board needs a voice to speak out for those students. The board needs to continue to emphasize their needs in strategic plans, ensure that legislation actually helps and doesn't hurt, and give teachers the flexibility and resources to help these students. I support efforts to hire and fairly pay support staff and paraprofessionals to help teachers and students.
Educator support-The School Board should ensure that teaching is seen not just as a viable, long-term career, but a career that is respected by the workforce. It must been seen not as a sacrifice to be an educator, but an honor that is well-compensated. The Board should ensure that teaching is made not just a recitation of facts to be tested upon, but an opportunity to help children become their best selves regardless of their background. The School Board also must actively increase racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the education field. If the school workforce represents our broader community, it will be easier to address pay gaps that have existed for far too long.
I have a lot of major influences, most importantly my wife and my parents. Their lifetimes of service, love, and sacrifice have helped me, my community, and our nation grow stronger.
Most of the historical figures I admire (Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Horace Mann, Philo Farnsworth,
Most of the things I remember were probably around the time I went to kindergarten, around 1987-88; my parents always had the morning news on TV when we got ready for school. While I do have recollection of the Iran-Contra and BCCI scandals, probably the biggest one was the Jessica McClure-falling-down-the-well incident. I was extremely fearful of every large pipe and manhole around that time; I did not know that wells were not common to our area. I vaguely remember my friends at recess daring me and others to go near the large sprinkler in the playground yard and stick our foot in it.
Besides mowing lawns, I worked on school yearbooks (in the winter) and planners (in the summer) for Carr Printing Company. I worked there for four years.
Grapes of Wrath; Tom Joad is my favorite character, his monologue is a personal motto.
The correct answer is Batman.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Utah House of Representatives District 31 |
Officeholder Utah House of Representatives District 31 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 23, 2020
