Mike Petersen (Utah)

Mike Petersen

Republican Party

Utah House of Representatives District 2

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Jefferson Moss

Prior offices

Utah House of Representatives District 3

Successor: Dan Johnson

Predecessor: Val Potter

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Compensation

Base salary

$293.55/legislative day

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Brigham Young University

Graduate

Brigham Young University

Ph.D

Utah State University

Personal

Birthplace

Ogden, Utah

Religion

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)

Profession

Business owner

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal YouTube

Personal LinkedIn

Mike Petersen (Republican Party) is a member of the Utah House of Representatives, representing District 2. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Petersen (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Utah House of Representatives to represent District 2. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Mike Petersen was born in Ogden, Utah. Petersen earned a B.S. in psychology and M.Ed. in counseling psychology from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in instructional technology from Utah State University. His career experience includes working as an instructional designer, as a consultant, and owning a business.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Petersen was assigned to the following committees:

• Government Operations Committee, Vice Chair
• Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee

2021-2022

Petersen was assigned to the following committees:

• Government Operations Committee
• Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee

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

2024

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Incumbent Mike Petersen defeated Tom Liljegren in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Petersen (R)	74.0	14,303
		Tom Liljegren (D)	26.0	5,032

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,335
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Tom Liljegren advanced from the Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Incumbent Mike Petersen defeated Mike Monson in the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on June 25, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Petersen	58.8	3,765
		Mike Monson	41.2	2,640

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,405
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Tom Liljegren advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on March 30, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Tom Liljegren (D)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican convention

Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Incumbent Mike Petersen advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on April 13, 2024.

		Candidate
✔		Mike Petersen (R)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mike Monson (R)

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Petersen in this election.

Pledges

Petersen signed the following pledges.

• U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Incumbent Mike Petersen defeated Holly Gunther in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Petersen (R)	72.7	10,238
		Holly Gunther (D)	27.3	3,838

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,076
= 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 primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Holly Gunther advanced from the Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Incumbent Mike Petersen defeated Val Potter in the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Petersen	54.0	3,291
		Val Potter	46.0	2,799

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,090
= 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 2

Holly Gunther advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on March 26, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Holly Gunther (D)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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 2

Incumbent Mike Petersen and Val Potter advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on March 26, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Petersen (R)	63.1	118
✔		Val Potter (R)	36.9	69

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 187
= 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.

2020

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 3

Mike Petersen defeated Holly Gunther in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Petersen (R)	73.7	15,197
		Holly Gunther (D)	26.3	5,415

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,612
= 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 primary election

Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 3

Mike Petersen defeated incumbent Val Potter in the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on June 30, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Petersen	55.6	4,768
		Val Potter	44.4	3,802

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,570
= 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 3

Holly Gunther advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on April 25, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Holly Gunther (D)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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 3

Mike Petersen advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on April 25, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Mike Petersen (R)

---

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

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mike Petersen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Mike Petersen did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

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

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I believe our state legislature is out of touch and that they don't listen to their constituents as they should. They don't believe we are as smart as they are. They don't believe we need to be listened to. We need new representation who will listen to us. I will restore your voice!

I am running as a conservative Republican challenging the incumbent who has served in local and state government for nearly 30 years. I plan to secure the Republican nomination through the caucus-convention system, and I look forward to meeting the voters of House District 3 to share my vision of lower taxes, smaller government, and restoring their voice.

Our traditional beliefs in self-reliance, small and accountable government, property rights, along with our belief that the family is the fundamental unit of society are the very reasons Utah is among the fastest growing states in the nation. We are a beacon for the entire country because of our beliefs.

We must remain true to our beliefs. We cannot have another debacle like the 2019 Tax Reform Bill. We need representation that listens to "we the people." We need to cut wasteful spending. We need to slow the growth of the state budget. The Governor's proposed 2020 budget is $20 billion dollars. Just 5 years ago we were at $15 billion dollars. We need representation that doesn't ignore us or talk down to us. We didn't sign the referendum because we didn't understand it. We signed because we knew it was wrong. We need new representation.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We need fewer taxes
• We need less government
• We, the people, need to be heard more.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I believe we need to follow the governing principles included in the U.S. Constitution and the Republican Party Platform.

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

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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.

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Mike Petersen campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Utah House of Representatives District 2	Won general	$32,572	$-25,293
2022	Utah House of Representatives District 2	Won general	$44,289	$-30,229
2020	Utah House of Representatives District 3	Won general	$25,516	N/A**
Grand total			$102,377	$-55,522
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Utah

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.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 16 to March 1. Americans for Prosperity Utah Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy. GrassRoots 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." Libertas Institute Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise." National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Utah Cultural Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to arts and the humanities. Utah Education Association Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education. Utah Taxpayers Association Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].

In 2023, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 17 to March 3. Americans for Prosperity Utah Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy. GrassRoots 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." Libertas Institute Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise." The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Utah Cultural Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to arts and the humanities. Utah Education Association House and Senate Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education. Utah Taxpayers Association Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 18 to March 4. Americans for Prosperity Utah Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy. GrassRoots 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." Libertas Institute Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise." National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Utah Cultural Alliance Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to arts and the humanities. Utah Education Association House and Senate Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education. Utah Taxpayers Association Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Utah State Legislature was in session from January 19 to March 5. GrassRoots 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." Leap Forward Legislators are scored on their votes on bills the organization chose to evaluate. Libertas Institute Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise." The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Utah Education Association House and Senate Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education. Utah Taxpayers Association Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.

See also

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Candidate

Utah House of Representatives District 2

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Utah House of Representatives District 2

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Jefferson Moss (R)	Utah House of Representatives District 2 2023-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by Val Potter (R)	Utah House of Representatives District 3 2021-2023	Succeeded by Dan Johnson (R)

[show]

Current members of the Utah House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Mike Schultz

Majority Leader:Casey Snider

Minority Leader:Angela Romero

Representatives

District 1

Thomas Peterson (R)

District 2

Mike Petersen (R)

District 3

Jason Thompson (R)

District 4

Tiara Auxier (R)

District 5

Casey Snider (R)

District 6

Matt Gwynn (R)

District 7

Ryan Wilcox (R)

District 8

Jason Kyle (R)

District 9

Jake Sawyer (R)

District 10

Jill Koford (R)

District 11

Katy Hall (R)

District 12

Mike Schultz (R)

District 13

Karen Peterson (R)

District 14

Karianne Lisonbee (R)

District 15

Ariel Defay (R)

District 16

Trevor Lee (R)

District 17

Stewart Barlow (R)

District 18

Paul Cutler (R)

District 19

Raymond Ward (R)

District 20

Melissa Ballard (R)

District 21

Sandra Hollins (D)

District 22

Jen Dailey-Provost (D)

District 23

Hoang Nguyen (D)

District 24

Grant Miller (D)

District 25

Angela Romero (D)

District 26

Matt MacPherson (R)

District 27

Anthony Loubet (R)

District 28

Nicholeen Peck (R)

District 29

Bridger Bolinder (R)

District 30

Jake Fitisemanu (D)

District 31

Verona Mauga (D)

District 32

Sahara Hayes (D)

District 33

Doug Owens (D)

District 34

Carol Moss (D)

District 35

Rosalba Dominguez (D)

District 36

Jim Dunnigan (R)

District 37

Ashlee Matthews (D)

District 38

Cheryl Acton (R)

District 39

Ken Ivory (R)

District 40

Andrew Stoddard (D)

District 41

Gay Lynn Bennion (D)

District 42

Clint Okerlund (R)

District 43

Steven Eliason (R)

District 44

Jordan Teuscher (R)

District 45

Tracy Miller (R)

District 46

Cal Roberts (R)

District 47

Mark Strong (R)

District 48

Doug Fiefia (R)

District 49

Candice Pierucci (R)

District 50

Stephanie Gricius (R)

District 51

Leah Hansen (R)

District 52

Cory Maloy (R)

District 53

Kay Christofferson (R)

District 54

Kristen Chevrier (R)

District 55

Jon Hawkins (R)

District 56

Val Peterson (R)

District 57

Nelson Abbott (R)

District 58

David Shallenberger (R)

District 59

Mike Kohler (R)

District 60

Tyler Clancy (R)

District 61

Lisa Shepherd (R)

District 62

Norman Thurston (R)

District 63

Stephen Whyte (R)

District 64

Jefferson Burton (R)

District 65

Doug Welton (R)

District 66

Troy Shelley (R)

District 67

Christine Watkins (R)

District 68

Scott Chew (R)

District 69

Logan Monson (R)

District 70

Carl Albrecht (R)

District 71

Rex Shipp (R)

District 72

Joseph Elison (R)

District 73

Colin Jack (R)

District 74

Neil Walter (R)

District 75

Walt Brooks (R)

Republican Party (61)

Democratic Party (14)