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Cheryl Nunn

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Cheryl Nunn
Image of Cheryl Nunn

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Brigham Young Universty

Personal
Birthplace
San Bernardino, Calif.
Profession
Financial Advisor
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Cheryl Nunn (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Utah House of Representatives to represent District 16. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Nunn completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Cheryl Nunn was born in San Bernardino, California. She earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Brigham Young University in 1983. She attended the College for Financial Planning and Western State College of Law for graduate study. Nunn's career experience includes working as a CEO and as a financial advisor and analyst. Nunn's organizational affiliations include the Children's Service Society Advisory Committee, Davis School District Educational Equity Committee, and the GLSEN Utah Chapter Steering Committee.[1][2]

Elections

2020

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 16

Incumbent Stephen Handy defeated Cheryl Nunn and Brent Zimmerman in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 16 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Stephen Handy
Stephen Handy (R)
 
62.1
 
10,890
Image of Cheryl Nunn
Cheryl Nunn (D) Candidate Connection
 
30.1
 
5,272
Image of Brent Zimmerman
Brent Zimmerman (L)
 
7.8
 
1,361

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 17,523
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 16

Cheryl Nunn advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 16 on April 25, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Image of Cheryl Nunn
Cheryl Nunn (D) Candidate Connection

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = 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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2018

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 16

Incumbent Stephen Handy defeated Cheryl Nunn and Brent Zimmerman in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 16 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Stephen Handy
Stephen Handy (R)
 
62.5
 
7,948
Image of Cheryl Nunn
Cheryl Nunn (D)
 
29.1
 
3,708
Image of Brent Zimmerman
Brent Zimmerman (L)
 
8.4
 
1,065

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 12,721
Candidate Connection = 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.


Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Cheryl Nunn completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nunn's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Cheryl Nunn is running for Utah State Legislature House District 16. She uses her skills in both corporate & financial analysis to start-up, run and advise companies, government, and non-profit organizations as well as individuals.  Cheryl Nunn is a Financial Advisor & Analyst over 34 years and at age 62 became a newly single mom by the adoption of two little girls! 
  • Our Utah population growth is projected to increase substantially in the near future and much work needs to be done now in the Utah Legislature to address our current and future needs. We need to plan carefully now to avoid increasing pollution, plans to improve our infrastructure, improve our educational system and increase high paying employment opportunities.
  • We have experienced a large outright refusal of our Utah State Legislators to listen too and validate the will of our Utah citizens. We passed four ballot initiatives in our last election and our legislature tried to terminate or alter each one significantly. The majority of our legislator's campaigns are funded (94% of them), by out of their District lobbyists, corporations, and others. These donors give away thousands of dollars to these legislators to influence their proposed bills and votes. It leads to corruption and a lack of passing urgently needed legislation that the people of Utah want and need. I pledge to refuse those donations and encourage voters to support other candidates that also refuse those donations.
  • Public service is a trust and a privilege. I am working on needed legislation now, writing needed bills to present in the 2021 Legislative Session. An article published May 12, 2020, by the Salt Lake Tribune showed we are dead last or 51st in the nation in the amount we spend per student! While our Utah politicians say they support education they don't once they are elected. They passed a "Tax Reform" package that our citizens had to pass a "referendum" by gathering signatures to stop.  Their tax reform was an attempt to place the highest-burden on our poor in taxing their basic needs for food and gasoline for transportation. We must vote for representatives that will represent us, instead of their special interest donors.
An elected office should be a means to serve our fellow citizens and not to enhance the success of a candidate's business, using new relationships to improve one's bottom line, or as a stepping stone to move on to bigger and greater opportunities. Too many of our Utah legislators are there to represent their own and their donors' interests. They have turned a death ear to the economic, health care, and other needs of our citizens. We need to stop the control of special interests in our state. They are largely responsible for the deep pollution and other issues we are facing. If we don't make changes now, these issues will only increase as our Utah population doubles.

It's hard to choose just one person, I have so many in my personal journal of heroes. As we know, we can't expect any president to end a pandemic single-handedly, but they can inspire a popular movement that eradicates a disease. This was the case with Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR and polio. For these most difficult times during our global Covid19 pandemic, I look to FDR for inspiration. He demonstrated critically important solutions to the economic problems caused by the great depression. His leadership and ability to enact his solutions to various problems at that time saved our country and lead to decades of prosperity and the rise of the American middle-class's standard of living. To name a few, these solutions included the Emergency Banking Bill of 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act (FDIC), the Civil Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, the Home Owners' Loan Corporation, the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. When polio crippled him, he sought healing and relief in Warm Springs, Georgia, while there he discovered the great difficulty of seniors and the disabled while being treated for polio. We owe him deep appreciation and credit for establishing safety net programs like Social Security at that time.  
I'm currently reading and agreeing with the author's insight of The Nation City: Why Mayors Are Now Running the World by Rahm Emanuel (he is the former Mayor of Chicago and Chief of Staff for President Obama)

Other books I recommend:

The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It by Robert B. Reich

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer

The Ones We've Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America by Charlotte Alter

Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, by Barrack Obama
Here are a few that are important to me.

Integrity
Technology Savvy
Visionary
Collaborator
Accessible
Flexible
Motivator

Willingness to Learn & Change

It's critical to put voters over donors! We need officeholders that will listen to their constituents and work tirelessly to make their lives better. It's essential to think issues and bills all the way through, avoid special interests, and lobbyists influence and use common sense. We must look out for the best interests of the majority. 
Elected members of Legislature must advocate for their district based on what the people want and NOT what their campaign donors want. We must study issues and bills carefully weighing the benefits and drawbacks of each bill put before us to vote on. We must "show up" and speak out for the needs of our community and work hard to meet those needs. We must act with integrity and practice admirable ethics in all our efforts and business representing our state as a respected leader.
At this time in my life, I have four little granddaughters, I call them my "Little Women". It's critical to me that we make important decisions now that will benefit our families in the future. I want to be elected to provide a legacy of clean air, affordable housing & health care. High paying jobs and great educational opportunities. We must fight the special interest donors that seek personal profit over the welfare of our state. Choices are being made for you will you have an "Inland Port" that is polluting with low paying trucking and warehouse jobs or a Silicon Valley-type of clean high tech and high paying jobs to improve our economic base and future? Will you have health care for the very wealthy and very poor, but leave the middle-class struggling? Will you have affordable housing and a safe non-grid lock infrastructure?
I was in the fourth grade, and my teacher had announced that our dear President Kennedy had been assassinated. When I got home I saw my mother glued in front of a tiny 15-inch black and white TV set. Everyone was so emotional, we were in such deep shock. We could hardly believe that it had happened. While my parents were strong Republicans and our home in Orange County, California was one of the most Republican counties in all America, and Richard Nixion had lived there most of his life. There were great mourning and loss felt by my parents and all the adults I knew for this beloved democratic president that they had been against before he was elected. I learned that once he was elected he was ALL our president. He was honored and revered even in the most Republican County. I learned I could not take our leaders for granted, that they risked & sacrificed much for the American people. It seemed to me that the good ones died young. As Martin Luther King Jr, and Bobby Kennedy were shot while I was still trying to make sense of losing President Kennedy in my very formative years.
Decision Making Information a polling/survey company based in Santa Ana, California. I was just 16 and a junior in high school. It was my summer job. Richard Wirthlin a well known and respected national pollster was the President. He was inspirational. It was an outstanding opportunity to learn about the world of politics and how the real world actually worked. Such a contrast to what I would learn in my government class in my senior year. I learned early how polls would often determine what a candidate would say to get votes, and may not believe in, or do once they are in the office! I also learned about Americans, what they felt strongly about, needed, and wanted. I don't remember her, I think we worked there at different times, but Kellyanne Conway also worked there, and she went on to start her own polling company. About my least favorite person, we see how she has evolved to become an advisor to President Trump. It was my first experience to be in a skyscraper! My world view had forever changed as much as my view from high up in the skyscraper building. It leads to my passion to help the people Utah understand the smoke & mirrors of campaigning and to look at the votes and actual actions of the candidates.
It seems like every book I read, I love, and the last one seems to be my favorite. I just finished Malcome Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers" last week for my book club. I enjoy and am enlightened by this author and loved so many of his other titles as well. This title was just as important and informative as The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and David and Goliath. Talking to Strangers not only improves your people skills but increases your wisdom. Oprah said about it "Reading it will actually change not just how you see strangers, but how you look at yourself, the news--the world...Reading this book changed me."
I feel like I relate closest to the Sally Field character in "Steel Magnolias". Overcoming deep personal losses, while continuing to "carry on" with a hopeful and cheerful disposition. She started raising her grandson as a senior kind of like I'm doing now with my two granddaughters I adopted in 2016.
"Pomp & Circumstance", it's graduation season right now, and because of the difficulty of the Covid19 pandemic, many of our college & high school youth are not getting to have traditional graduation ceremonies. I've been thinking lots about them...
As an active Mormon, I followed my parent's and Bishop's advice to marry a returned missionary in the Temple. I was only 17 at the time. I had children right away, as was that was the doctrine taught me at the time. Unfortunately, my husband didn't continue in his Church activity and beliefs and became drug & alcohol addicted. We divorced and I found myself with no child or family support, but high expenses as a single mother. I had only had a high school education. When I went to a job interview to work in a grocery store, the manager told me he would hire me full time, but that I would not make enough money to pay for apartment rent, babysitting, groceries, car payments, and insurance etc. He was right! I knew I needed a college education to support my family but how? I started a licensed day care home in my rental. I had 13 children including my 2 from 6:30 am to 7:00 at night. Then I took television courses and received 3 semesters credit and attended one-semester full time and graduated with an AA degree. I was able to transfer to BYU and attend the Marriott School of Business and lived frugally on Pell grants and student loans until I graduated with a BS degree in Finance. I became the first college graduate in my entire extended family. Once I earned my college degree I was able to support my family well and succeed.
The best advantage of a bicameral legislature is the increased representation of our constituents. Our Senate is organized to have just 29 Senators that represent about 95,000 people. By adding a second chamber the "House" we are able to add 75 more representatives that represent about 35,000 people each. With better representation, the bicameral theory is that we get better laws and better policies. We hope for less corruption and better, wiser, and more foolproof laws. However, because we lack term limits for both our Utah senate and house representatives powerful long term elected career politicians often control what favored representatives are assigned to certain prestigious committees and favor to donors run rampant. For these reasons I am a proponent of term limits and a return to the citizen legislature as it was once intended to be in Utah. 
Such experience can provide wonderful benefits, but it also can be a two-edged sword. Dangerous drawbacks from ongoing toxic relationships and special interest donor favors owed can cripple or even eliminate those benefits. Strong ethics, honesty, and a history of selfless service should be the pre-requisites. It is helpful as well to have wide and deep education and experience in the private sector, especially in leadership positions.
We need to make better decisions! Current and past representatives have voted for underfunding of education so that our kids receive less funding that all the 49 other states. We should at least offer our kids the average, not the worst in the nation if we want them able to earn a living income in our competitive global economy. While we are are the worst polluted state on some days in the country, our legislators voted to pass an "Inland Port" without any environmental or citizen studies or input. Such ports have increased pollution in other states to levels causing severe health issues for the residents. I'm against it and feel we can be wiser. We need to attract high paying jobs not just trucking and warehouse low paying jobs to the area. I would like us to expand a Silicon Valley high tech solution there instead.
Respect for the different responsibilities each has. An effort to understand first and then to be understood in our various efforts, agendas, and goals. We should seek together to unite Utah with policies to improve it and increase opportunities for our young people whether in affordable housing, wadge equality & high paying jobs to healthy recreation and preservation of our beautiful natural resources and parks.
A spirit of non-partisanship should prevail. A belief that they have the best intentions and that all their efforts are made for the benefit of our constituents should be the assumption we make about each other. Debates are healthy and bring up all sides of an issue that should be weighed carefully. Mutual respect and treating each other with kindness and consideration should occur every day. 
I would be honored to fill any openings and be assigned or appointed a position on any House committee. That said my experience as a Financial Advisor and CEO and support of Adoption and Department of Families and Child Services particularly give me helpful background, experience and insight that may be very helpful to the following committees:

House Business and Labor Committee
Executive Appropriations Committee
House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee
House Ethics Committee
House Legislative Expense Oversight Committee
House Revenue and Taxation Committee
Occupational and Professional Licensure Review Committee
Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee

Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee
Not at this time.
Yes, Patrice Arent, retiring this year after representing the 39th District.
No, I believe I can best serve locally and would stay in office to honor the commitments I made at time of the election.
Yes, we have experienced increased costs for insulin in the past year. It has become so expensive that diabetics have had to make decisions between risking their lives living without it or try to ration it that could cause them to die or go into a coma to be able to pay for their children's needs for food and housing. A choice NO citizen should be forced to make! I turn to the "helpers" in our communities such as the nurses, in this case, to help inform me of the needs & possible solutions after hearing such a story. They have addressed inadequate healthcare funding in increased prescription drug costs. Many healthcare providers can share how patients have told them they need to limit the frequency with which their prescriptions are filled because they can't afford the co-payments or because they simply lack knowledge regarding how to obtain discounts or community resources to fill their prescriptions.

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.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Candidate Connection

Cheryl Nunn participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on April 23, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Cheryl Nunn's responses follow below.[3]

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

“ 1) Utah Environmental Protections- Top of List, Cleaning Air

2) Utah Education Funding- Top of the List, Better Paid Teachers & Smaller Classes
3) Utah Job Development- Top of the List, Increase to a Living Minimum Wage[4][5]

”

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

“ Projections of Utah population growth indicates we will double our population by 2050. I'm passionate about making sure we take major steps now to ensure we have a healthy environment, infrastructure, educational system and economy for our future.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[5] ”

Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Cheryl Nunn answered the following:

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

“ When I consider our great leaders, I look first for those having lived long lives with personal integrity. There are many smart leaders to follow, but not enough brilliant people that also have a hard work ethic, moral compass, and qualities such as empathy, perseverance, resilience, and humility. Once such example of a leader with all those qualities is Ann Richards, the former Govoner of Texas. She was well known for those specific traits, and for her efforts to boost up others, especially minorities into positions of importance to build up their communities.[5] ”
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
“ The character of Jed Bartlett in Aaron Sorkin's award winning "West Wing" series now on Netflix.[5] ”
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
“ Honesty, equal respect for people of all backgrounds, a hard work ethic, and deep curiosity to learn all they can about the pros and cons of each bill they vote on.[5] ”
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
“ Determination, to always do my best. Respect, curiosity to learn what is needed, and deep desire to serve the people of my community.[5] ”
Do you believe that it's beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?
“ Utah has been designed to be a citizen legislature and many business and private sector leaders can provide efficency models and uncompromized positions that career politicians can't. I'm for term limits.[5] ”
What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?
“ Double population growth. If we don't plan well now, we will lose the things about Utah that make it stand out as rated as one in the top three states to live.[5] ”
Do you believe it's beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.
“ Bipartisanship is the key to success and working together to achieve common goals will make Utah better. It's time to embrace civility and ways to unite.[5] ”

Ballotpedia biographical submission form

The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:

“ What is your political philosophy?

Elected office should be a means to serve our fellow citizens and not to enhance the success of a candidate’s business, using new relationships to improve one’s bottom line, or as a stepping stone to move on to bigger and greater opportunities.

The very best public servants have the most honorable motives. As a newly retired and new mother of adopted little girls and as a grandmother, it’s not about me, or a business I run, or a future opportunity I want, it’s purely about family & my constituent’s families future. We need to take many important actions now to ensure their quality of life and economic opportunity here in Utah. Our population growth is projected to increase substantially in the near future and much work needs to be done now in the Utah Legislature to address our current and future needs. We need to plan carefully to maintain our quality of life to make this great growth transition a smooth one so that we can accommodate this and in a non-partisan manner.

Our Utah Legislature was organized as a “part-time Legislature” meeting over a period of only 45 days a year. The intention of its organization was to arrange for the positions to be filled by regular citizens and NOT by career politicians! Too many legislative offices are filled today by long-term incumbent politicians that have built strong lobby connections where they are not representing them and not the citizens in their districts interests. These long term incumbents refuse to step aside unselfishly for others to serve the interests of the voters in their districts.

When you write or call your legislators you deserve to have their ear and representation, that is what they are being paid to do, listen to and represent their constituents. Not receive a boilerplate form letter in return.

After writing so many of our legislators including in my own district and receiving either a non-response or form letter not acknowledging my question or concern, I realized something was very wrong here and became determined to change it.

I believe that state political office should not become a career or livelihood, it is far to easy and common for corruption and personal enrichment benefits to accumulate otherwise. For that reason, I pledge to serve no more than two terms for Utah State Legislature House District 16.

Public service is a trust and a privilege. I am working on needed legislation now, writing needed bills to present in the 2019 Legislative Session. I welcome you to read my “Issues Notes” and learn about them and offer your critique and helpful comments.

Is there anything you would like to add?

As a financial advisor and analyst, my interests naturally span from wise government & corporate financial management to efficient use of new technology, to increase productivity, leadership, and efficiency. 

As an activist & grandmother and recent new single mom by adoption, my interests include social justice, education and environmental research and preservation.[5]

”
—Cheryl Nunn[1]

See also

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Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on April 23, 2018
  2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 14, 2020
  3. ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
  4. ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Cheryl Nunn's responses," April 23, 2018
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.


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