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Michelle Quist
Michelle Quist (United Utah Party) ran for election for Attorney General of Utah. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Quist completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Michelle Quist was born in Thousand Oaks, California. Quist earned a high school diploma from Thousand Oaks High School, a B.A. in political science and government from Brigham Young University in 1994, and a J.D. from BYU Law School in 2000. Her career experience includes working as an attorney and as a columnist at The Salt Lake Tribune.[1] [2]
Elections
2024
See also: Utah Attorney General election, 2024
General election
General election for Attorney General of Utah
Derek Brown defeated Rudy Bautista, Michelle Quist, Andrew McCullough, and Austin Hepworth in the general election for Attorney General of Utah on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Derek Brown (R) | 57.8 | 838,445 |
 | Rudy Bautista (D)  | 27.7 | 401,234 | |
 | Michelle Quist (United Utah Party) | 7.2 | 103,831 | |
 | Andrew McCullough (L) | 3.9 | 55,932 | |
 | Austin Hepworth (Unaffiliated) | 3.5 | 50,053 | |
| Total votes: 1,449,495 | |||
| = 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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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Attorney General of Utah
Derek Brown defeated Rachel Terry and Frank Demcy Mylar in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Utah on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Derek Brown | 43.6 | 178,164 |
 | Rachel Terry | 32.5 | 133,019 | |
 | Frank Demcy Mylar | 23.9 | 97,522 | |
| Total votes: 408,705 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Libertarian primary election
The Libertarian primary election was canceled. Andrew McCullough advanced from the Libertarian primary for Attorney General of Utah.
United Utah Party primary election
The United Utah Party primary election was canceled. Michelle Quist advanced from the United Utah Party primary for Attorney General of Utah.
Democratic convention
Democratic convention for Attorney General of Utah
Rudy Bautista defeated David Carlson in the Democratic convention for Attorney General of Utah on April 27, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rudy Bautista (D) | 64.4 | 511 |
 | David Carlson (D) | 35.6 | 282 | |
| Total votes: 793 | |||
| = 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 Attorney General of Utah
The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Rachel Terry in round 2 , and Frank Demcy Mylar in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
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Total votes: 3,778 |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Attorney General of Utah
Andrew McCullough advanced from the Libertarian convention for Attorney General of Utah on April 20, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Andrew McCullough (L) |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
United Utah Party convention
United Utah Party convention for Attorney General of Utah
Michelle Quist advanced from the United Utah Party convention for Attorney General of Utah on April 20, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Michelle Quist (United Utah Party) |
| ||||
| = 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
To view Quist's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Quist in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released September 23, 2024 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michelle Quist completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Quist's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Politics do not belong in law enforcement. As an independent attorney general, I want to cut off the Utah Attorney General's Office from both of the national parties, including the national partisan bosses and their purse strings, and focus the office on the legal issues that actually affect everyday Utahns.
- I want to support law enforcement. We have county prosecutors that can't fund drug prosecutions and yet we're spending tens of millions of dollars on D.C. lawyers to argue cases we can't win. We have children being abused without anyone knowing it and women suffering from domestic violence without officers receiving the proper training to enforce the new lethality assessment protocol to keep our families safe. I want to reprioritize resources in the office to focus on what really matters - legal issues affecting Utahns and not national partisan politics.
- I want to stop government corruption. This office has had scandals and self-dealing for decades, and it just keeps continuing. In a one-party state, there is little accountability for government corruption. The fox is guarding the hen house, and I want it to stop. We need a leaders willing to stand up for what is right, without his hands being tied by partisan loyalty. That can only happen with an independent attorney general.
2. Educate voters to explain the bills the Legislature is attempting to pass so that voters can engage;
3. Assess priorities and vision of the office and share that vision with department leaders;
4. Present clear, honest, and transparent details of the workings of the office to the general public;
5. Protect and serve the public's legal needs, especially Utah's vulnerable communities; and
Former Justice Deno Himonas
Former Chief Prosecutor, Kosovo Specialist, David Schwendiman
Salt Lake County Treasurer Wayne Cushing
Former Judge Fred Voros
Former Congressman Ben McAdams
Former Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houch
Senator Kathleen Riebe
Senator Nate Blouin
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss
Kane County Democrats
Equality Utah
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.
Interview with Q Salt Lake Magazine
Quist highlighted the following themes in an interview with Q Salt Lake Magazine in articles published on August 21, 2024, and September 18, 2024. The questions from Q Salt Lake Magazine are bolded and Quist's responses follow below.[3][4]
| “ |
If SCOTUS overturns Obergefell, which legalized same-gender marriage nationwide, and Utah’s Amendment 3, defining marriage between one man and one woman, becomes law again, would you defend it? Any reversal of Obergefell won’t necessarily result in the restoration of Amendment 3, which was struck down in 2013; Obergefell was decided in 2015. The former didn’t rely on the latter. Regardless, there is little appetite for Amendment 3 in Utah anymore, and I would advocate against it. HB 257 requires people to use restrooms in government operated buildings that correspond to their gender assigned at birth (on their birth certificate.) It will likely face legal challenges. As AG, what do you do? As AG, I would be obligated to represent the state in any litigation related to HB 257. However, if the legal challenges suggest it infringes upon constitutional rights, I would seek a resolution that upholds the law without compromising the civil liberties of Utahns. Anti-LGBTQ+ proposed laws are often couched as “religious freedom” bills. How will you protect the rights of the community against this type of legislated discrimination? While religious freedom is a protected right, it cannot be used to justify discrimination. I am committed to rigorously reviewing any proposed laws that could infringe on the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals before they pass, challenging those that violate constitutional protections. Utah has spent millions defending laws later ruled as un-Constitutional. As AG how will you prevent the state from wasting taxpayers’ money? I would prioritize a careful legal review of any laws before defending them in court. My goal would be to ensure the state’s legal efforts are focused on defending laws that have a strong legal foundation and do not infringe on the rights of any Utahns. For several years the AG’s office has been plagued with scandal and a seeming lack of integrity. How would you restore faith in the office? A hallmark of my campaign has been to bring the focus of the Attorney General’s Office off of national partisan rhetoric and frivolous legal lawsuits and return the focus to legal matters. Utah needs an attorney general who is nonpartisan, independent, and transparent. LGBTQ+ voters deserve an attorney general who is not focused on hyper-partisan culture war rhetoric. Specifically, why should LGBTQ+ parents vote for you? I’m not a gay parent, but I am the parent of a gay child. LGBTQ+ parents should vote for me because I understand the unique challenges you face and am committed to ensuring that your families are treated with the respect and protection you deserve.[5] |
” |
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.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Attorney General of Utah |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Michelle Quist," accessed March 7, 2024
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 6, 2024
- ↑ Q Salt Lake Magazine, “Utah Election 2024: Ask the AG,” August 21, 2024
- ↑ Q Salt Lake Magazine, "Utah Election 2024: Ask the AG, part 2," September 18, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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