WASHINGTON — Today, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) announced two 2024 Spotlight candidates in Utah running to combat Republican extremism and power in the legislature. These dynamic Democratic candidates provide opportunities to flip competitive seats and counter the GOP supermajority in the House and Senate.
The Spotlight candidates unveiled today are:
- Stacy Bernal (SD-03) is a neurodiversity and disability rights advocate running for the Utah Senate to flip her district blue. Stacey is a passionate voice for often-underserved members of the community, especially neurodivergent individuals. She founded an annual event, Awesome Autistic Ogden, to celebrate rather than stigmatize neurodiversity, and worked with the local police department to establish a voluntary autism registry to protect both citizens and officers. If elected, Stacey will fight to make homeownership accessible to working families, ensure adequate funding for public schools, increase access to health care, and promote economic stability for all Utahns.
- Jake Fitisemanu (HD-30) is a community health advocate running for the Utah House to flip his district blue. Growing up, Jake saw the way his parents were always willing to help others in the community, which later inspired him to pursue a life of service. By leading with compassion, Jake is able to bring in a wide variety of voices to tackle tough issues. While serving on his local city council, Jake led efforts to hire a full-time sustainability officer to address environmental issues, such as air quality. Now he’s ready to bring his community-first approach to the House.
This session, Republicans wielded their legislative majorities to advance bills to attack transgender people, undermine school curricula, ban books, and encourage more guns in schools. The GOP majorities also passed a harmful bill to try to expedite the implementation of a trigger abortion ban. The Democratic Spotlight candidates announced today would provide essential voices in the state legislature to counter an extreme GOP agenda, protect fundamental freedoms, and make Utah safe and inclusive for all.
These candidates are some of the best opportunities to build Democratic power in Utah this cycle. This announcement continues the momentum of DLCC’s “Summer of the States” campaign, which launched last month to call attention to the critical window to build the infrastructure for Democrats to push past Republican efforts and boost our chances for victory in November. These strong Utah candidates join hundreds of candidates who are mounting inspiring campaigns in every corner of the country to build Democratic power and counter MAGA control of state legislatures.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams issued the following statement:
“Republicans in Utah have used their power to advance a dangerous agenda that strips fundamental freedoms from their constituents. The DLCC is proud to fight back against this Republican extremism by uplifting Stacy Bernal and Jake Fitisemanu as our Spotlight candidates in Utah. These candidates bring experience and deep ties to their communities to fuel the fight against the GOP’s MAGA takeover of the state. Strong Democratic candidates with a clear grasp of the stakes are what’s needed to set Utah on a path toward progress. As the DLCC works to strengthen Democratic power across the country, we’re proud to champion these candidates and their promising bids for the legislature.”
The DLCC is the official arm of the Democratic Party with the sole mission of building Democratic power in the states and setting the national agenda at the state level. Over the last decade, we have fought cycle-over-cycle to gain a dozen new legislative chamber majorities and we are leading the effort to bring national attention and investment to our ballot level. State legislatures are the building blocks of our democracy and have the closest connections to Americans’ day-to-day lives. From protecting fundamental freedoms and voting rights to growing the middle class, the DLCC and state legislators are moving the Democratic agenda forward and shaping the future of this country.
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