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Kevin Van Tassell
Kevin T. Van Tassell is a former Republican member of the Utah State Senate, representing District 26 from 2007 to 2018. Van Tassell did not file to run for re-election in 2018.[1]
Biography
Van Tassell graduated from the American Banker's Commercial Lending School. He also attended Brigham Young University. He is a banker.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Utah committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Health and Human Services |
| • Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Van Tassell served on the following committees:
| Utah committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Health and Human Services |
| • Rules, Chair |
| • Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology |
| • Legislative Information Technology Steering |
| • Native American Legislative Liaison, Chair |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Tassell served on the following committees:
| Utah committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Government Operations and Political Subdivisions |
| • Rules |
| • Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology, Chair |
| • Legislative Information Technology Steering |
| • Native American Legislative Liaison |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Van Tassell served on the following committees:
| Utah committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Business and Labor |
| • Legislative Information Technology Steering |
| • Native American Legislative Liaison |
| • Redistricting |
| • Rules |
| • Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Van Tassell served on the following committees:
| Utah committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Business and Labor |
| • Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology |
Campaign themes
2014
Van Tassell's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[2]
Economy & Jobs
- Excerpt: "Utah has a favorable tax structure for business, which allows the state to attract new business. Keeping our corporate tax structure reasonable pays dividends when companies choose to relocate high paying jobs to Utah."
Energy
- Excerpt: "Unlike other states, Utah is proving that you can expect developers to use the most advanced, most environmentally-friendly technologies and still grow the energy economy. Yet our ability to develop them is being hampered by federal red tape and environmental agendas. It's time for Utah lands to be in Utah hands. It's our energy and our right to develop it."
Education
- Excerpt: "Education requires funding, but what it really needs today is more innovation, autonomy from federal programs and a new era of fresh thinking. While we must maintain our priority to fund education at the highest levels possible, I’ll fight to reward education in Utah for working harder and smarter. The new Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) programs created by the legislature are a good example. There is no greater investment the state can make than in the preparation of those kids who will be our future workforce and our future leaders."
Infrastructure
- Excerpt: "Over the past eight years, the Utah Legislature has done a good job balancing critical infrastructure needs with the need to maintain fiscally responsible bonding policies. As the state population grows, so will the demand on our infrastructure. We must maintain a disciplined approach to assessing and prioritizing needs for infrastructure."
Government’s Role
- Excerpt: "Government has an important role to play in society, but I believe that the government should derive power from the people who are the masters of government. Wealth is created by the private sector not by the government. Government should be kept as close to the people as possible."
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.
Elections
2018
- See also: Utah State Senate elections, 2018
Kevin Van Tassell did not file to run for re-election.
2014
- See also: Utah State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Utah State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 24, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 20, 2014. Wayne Stevens was unopposed in the Democratic convention. Incumbent Kevin Van Tassell defeated Susan Hacking Horrocks in the Republican convention. Van Tassell defeated Stevens in the general election.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Kevin T. Van Tassell Incumbent |
69.7% | 15,249 | |
| Democratic | Wayne Stevens | 30.3% | 6,622 | |
| Total Votes | 21,871 | |||
2010
- See also: Utah State Senate elections, 2010
Van Tassell was re-elected to the 26th District seat in 2010. He defeated Paul Dowland (D) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[4][5]
| Utah State Senate, District 26 General Election 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Kevin Van Tassell (R)
|
18,679 | |||
| Paul Dowland (D) | 7,455 | |||
2006
- See also: Utah State Senate elections, 2006
On November 7, 2006, Van Tassell won election to the 26th District Seat in the Utah State Senate, defeating opponents Roland Uresk and Sonya Ray.[6]
Van Tassell raised $78,126 for his campaign, while Uresk raised $4,278 and Ray raised $991. [7]
| Utah State Senate, District 26 (2006) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Kevin Van Tassell (R)
|
13,562 | |||
| Roland Uresk (D) | 8,044 | |||
| Sonya Ray (C) | 1,807 | |||
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Utah scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2018
In 2018, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 22 through March 8.
- Legislators are scored based on the organization's mission of "promoting the principles of limited government, constitution, representative government, participatory republic, free market economy, family, and separation of powers."
- Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise."
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education.
- Legislators are scored based on their votes relating to environmental and conservation issues.
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 23 through March 9. There was also a special session on September 20.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 25 through March 10.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 26 through March 12.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 60th Utah State Legislature, second year, was in session from January 27 to March 14.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 60th Utah State Legislature, first year, was in session from January 28 to March 14.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the 59th Utah State Legislature, second year, was in session from January 23 to March 8.
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the 59th Utah State Legislature, first year, was in session from January 24 to March 10.
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The Libertas Institute Index
The Libertas Institute is a libertarian-leaning think tank located in Utah.[11] Each year the organization releases a Legislative Index for Utah State Representatives and Senators.
2010
Kevin Van Tassell received an index rating of 67%.
2011
Kevin Van Tassell received an index rating of 46%.
2012
Kevin Van Tassell received an index rating of 40%.
2013
Kevin Van Tassell received an index rating of 43%.
The Sutherland Institute Scorecard
The Sutherland Institute, "a conservative public policy think tank" in Utah, releases its Scorecard for Utah State Representatives and Senators once a year. The Score Card gives each legislator a score based on how they voted in the prior legislative term on specific issues which the Sutherland Institute thought were pro-conservative policies.[12]
2012
Kevin Van Tassell received a score of 90% in the 2012 score card.[13]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Kevin + Van + Tassell + Utah + Senate"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Utah State Legislature
- Utah State Senate
- Senate Committees
- Utah Joint Committees
- Utah state legislative districts
External links
- Official campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006
Footnotes
- ↑ The Park Record, "Van Tassell, Park City’s state senator, to retire after 12 years," December 29, 2017
- ↑ Van Tassell for Senate, "Issues," accessed October 1, 2014
- ↑ Utah Lieutenant Governor, "2014 Candidate Filings," accessed March 21, 2014
- ↑ Utah Secretary of State, "Official candidate list," accessed May 23, 2014
- ↑ Utah Secretary of State, "Official 2010 General election results," accessed May 23, 2014
- ↑ 2006 election results, Utah State Senate, District 26
- ↑ District 26 Utah State Senate spending, 2008
- ↑ GrassRoots, "2015 Legislative Report," accessed May 30, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Utah Legislative Ratings, "UTAH HOUSE Scorecard - Compiled 2015 Conservative Liberal Index," May 19, 2015
- ↑ GrassRoots, "2015 Legislative Report," accessed May 30, 2017
- ↑ Libertas Institute: "Legislator Indexes," accessed January 21, 2014
- ↑ Sutherland Institute, "2012 Legislative Session," accessed March 29, 2014
- ↑ Sutherland Institute, "2012 Sutherland Institute Legislative Scorecard," accessed October 1, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Beverly Evans |
Utah Senate District 26 2007–2018 |
Succeeded by Ronald Winterton (R) |
