Drew Howells
Drew Howells (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Utah House of Representatives to represent District 39. He is running in the Democratic convention on April 11, 2026.[source]
Howells completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Drew Howells served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 2004 to 2013. He earned a high school diploma from Trabuco Hills High School and a military citation from Defense Information School in 2006.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 39
Sarah Brough (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 39 on June 23, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Sarah Brough | ||
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary
Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 39
Lisa Dean (R) and Ryan Jackson (R) are running in the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 39 on June 23, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Lisa Dean | ||
| Ryan Jackson | ||
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| = 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
Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 39
Sarah Brough (D), Drew Howells (D), and Kevin Seal (D) are running in the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 39 on April 11, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Sarah Brough | ||
 | Drew Howells | |
| Kevin Seal | ||
| ||||
| = 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
Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 39
Incumbent Ken Ivory (R), Lisa Dean (R), and Ryan Jackson (R) are running in the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 39 on April 18, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Ken Ivory | |
| Lisa Dean | ||
| Ryan Jackson | ||
| ||||
| = 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
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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Drew Howells completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Howells' responses.
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My professional background is in journalism, broadcast, communications, and strategic messaging. I’ve used those skills in advocacy and public policy work, including helping draft Utah's Prop 2, the Utah Medical Cannabis Act. I also helped run the campaign behind Prop 2 and worked on its public messaging. I’ve served in leadership roles with Democratic veterans’ organizations at both the county and state level as well.
I’m running because I believe government should solve real problems, protect human dignity, and plan responsibly for the future. I believe in evidence-based policy, transparent government, and building a Utah that is more affordable, more inclusive, and more prepared for the challenges ahead. I’m running to bring serious, thoughtful leadership to the legislature and help build the bright future Utah families deserve.- Affordability and accessibility –– Utah should be affordable and accessible for the people who live here. Too many families are being squeezed by rising housing costs, healthcare costs, utility bills, and everyday essentials, while government too often feels out of reach or unresponsive. I’m running to fight for practical policies that lower costs, expand access, and make government work better for ordinary people. A good state is not one that only works for the well-connected— it is one that works for everyone.
- Building the "great big beautiful tomorrow" –– I believe Utah can still build the great big beautiful tomorrow so many of us were promised— but that future will not arrive by accident. We have to plan for it now. That means serious leadership on housing, education, infrastructure, water, healthcare, and economic opportunity. My campaign is about looking ahead, thinking long-term, and making decisions today that create a stronger, healthier, more hopeful Utah for the next generation. Planning for a better future begins right now.
- Infinite diversity in infinite combinations–– Our diversity is not a weakness to be managed— it is one of our greatest strengths. Utah, and America, are at their best when we live up to the spirit of "e pluribus unum" — out of many, one. I believe in infinite diversity in infinite combinations: the idea that people from different backgrounds, experiences, identities, and beliefs make our communities stronger, wiser, and more resilient. I’m running to help build an Utah where everyone is treated with dignity, everyone belongs, and everyone has a stake in our shared future.
I’m also passionate about building a future worthy of the generations living here now and those yet to come. I believe government should help create that hopeful, bright future so many of us were promised— "a great big beautiful tomorrow" — and that the work of building it begins with the choices we make today.
I also look up to Abraham Lincoln because he stood at one of the most dangerous moments in our nation’s history and still chose to call America toward its highest values. His belief in the better angels of our nature is one of the most enduring ideas in American public life. Lincoln showed that real leadership means holding fast to principle, preserving democracy, and refusing to give up on the promise of the American experiment, even in its darkest hour.
I also believe integrity matters above all. Public office is a public trust, and people deserve leaders who are honest, principled, and guided by something greater than ego or ambition. A lot of how I think about leadership comes from my time in military service, and the Air Force core values: integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. I believe those principles belong in public office. Elected officials should serve with humility, do the work seriously, and always strive to leave their community better than they found it.
I also believe a legislator has a responsibility to defend the Constitution, safeguard individual rights, and plan for the long-term future of the state. That means thinking beyond headlines and political theater, and focusing on whether a policy is effective, sustainable, and worthy of the people it will impact. Public office is about stewardship, sound judgment, and leaving the state stronger than you found it.
My generation was promised that if we worked hard, played by the rules, and did our part, the future would keep getting better. Instead, too many people inherited higher costs, greater instability, weaker institutions, environmental danger, and an economy that asks more and gives less. That did not happen by accident. It was the result of short-term thinking, political cowardice, and a generation of leadership too willing to cash in the future for present comfort. I do not believe we have the right to do that again.
I want my legacy to be that I helped turn us back toward long-term thinking, shared responsibility, and hope. That I helped build a Utah where affordability is real, healthcare is accessible, disability is not treated as an afterthought, veterans are honored with more than words, and government plans for the future instead of merely reacting to crisis. I want to be part of building a state that protects the Great Salt Lake, manages water responsibly, confronts inequality honestly, and creates communities where people can live with dignity.
I also want to leave behind a politics rooted in the belief that infinite diversity in infinite combinations is a strength. Our differences are not the problem. The problem is a politics that keeps ordinary people divided while wealth, power, and opportunity continue to move upward and out of reach. I want to help build a future where we reject that cynicism, invest in one another, and remember that the purpose of government is to improve people’s lives.
It has also shaped how I see public policy. For me, healthcare, veterans’ issues, disability, accessibility, and mental health are not abstract debates. They are personal. They are human. Our hardest experiences often become the foundation of our advocacy, and that has certainly been true for me. Living through those struggles has made me more empathetic, more determined, and more committed to building a government that treats people with dignity and actually meets them where they are.
Our system works best when each branch has the courage to exercise its own authority and serve as a check on the others. The governor should not simply defer to the legislature, and the legislature should not try to function as an extension of the executive. Separation of powers is not a technicality— it is a safeguard for the public.
At the same time, we are a growing state, and that means we have to plan honestly for how we will conserve, manage, and sustain our water resources in the years ahead. Utah’s future depends on whether we are willing to treat water as the defining issue it is and act with the urgency that reality demands.
That said, I do believe there are limits. I am willing to compromise on policy details, on process, and on how we get to a solution. I am not willing to compromise on the humanity, dignity, or fundamental rights of other people. I do not accept the idea that any group’s worth is up for negotiation. For me, that is the line.
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
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
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Candidate Utah House of Representatives District 39 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 23, 2026
