Utah's House to elect new leadership. Here's who's running
SALT LAKE CITY () — Utah's House majority will hold elections for a new House Majority Leader on Tuesday, June 3, and several hopefuls could usher in a completely new leadership team under House Speaker Mike Schultz (R-Hooper).
The announcement that Rep. Jefferson Moss (R-Eagle Mountain) will be moving to the executive branch to head the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) leaves a vacancy for the House majority's number two leadership role, Majority Leader.
Multiple sources with knowledge of internal communications with the caucus confirm to ABC4 that two members of the current leadership will be vying for it, Reps. Karianne Lisonbee (R-Syracuse) and Casey Snider (R-Logan).
Under House rules, anyone currently serving in leadership and running for an open position must resign from their current leadership position. That means that Lisonbee's current position as Majority Whip and Snider's current position as Assistant Whip will also open up.
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The following Republican representatives, listed in order alphabetically by last name, are running for the open positions:
Karianne Lisonbee (R-Syracuse)
Casey Snider (R-Logan)
Jeff Burton (R-Spanish Fork)
Candice Pierucci (R-Herriman)
Jordan Teuscher (R-South Jordan)
Ryan Wilcox (R-North Ogden)
Bridger Bolinder (R-Grantsville)
Cory Maloy (R-Lehi)
Karen Petersen (R-Smithfield)
Rex Shipp (R-Parowan)
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Another possible shift, Rep. Teuscher is currently the powerful House Rules Chair, who helps decide which bills make it out of the rules committee to be heard by the larger body. If he wins the Whip position, he would likely have to give up that role due to the time constraints. However, it's at the Speaker's discretion who he appoints as Rules Chair.
'One of the primary responsibilities of the Whip is to serve as a liaison with the Senate and to help unify and strengthen our caucus,' said Teuscher. 'I believe I bring the right combination of experience, skills, temperament, and relationships to be effective in that role—and to ensure our caucus continues to drive the conversation on the most important issues facing our state and is successful in getting our policy objectives to the finish line.'
Teuscher has ushered in some controversial legislation in the past, most recently the ban on collective bargaining, HB267, which currently faces a referendum that will be put before voters to decide whether or not to overturn it after labor groups
While the current field of candidates is pretty settled, the source said, representatives do have until Monday morning to declare their intent to run. It's also possible that representatives not included in this list could be nominated by the body during the election for any of the open positions.
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The vacancy by Rep. Moss is also adding another wrinkle to the elections. His seat has yet to be filled via a special election, decided by the Utah County Republican Party. That means that the House majority will have 60 members voting in the election, not 61, leaving the possibility for a tie.
House majority elections require a simple majority vote, and it's unclear exactly what would happen in that case, however, the rules would suggest that voting would continue until there is a majority.
Political insiders who spoke with ABC4 about the race say it is unusual for two members of the current leadership to be running against each other. Typically, those already in leadership positions tend to slide into a vacant and more prominent role.
Those insiders also say there is pent-up demand to be in leadership, as evidenced by the number of people running.
The House majority's elections are not public, but the new leadership team will be announced Tuesday evening after the vote.
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Utah's House to elect new leadership. Here's who's running
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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