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Nathaniel Woodward
Nathaniel Woodward (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Utah's 2nd Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Woodward completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Nathaniel Woodward was born in Price, Utah. He earned an associate degree from the College of Eastern Utah in 2014 and a bachelor's degree from Utah State University in 2017. He earned a law degree from the Willamette University College of Law in 2020. His career experience includes working as an attorney and professor.[1]
Woodward has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Utah State University Alumni Board
- Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum Advisory Board
- Price City Main Street Commission
- Eastern Leaders Academy
- Utah Friends of Paleontology
- North American Research Group
Elections
2024
See also: Utah's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
Utah's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Republican primary)
Utah's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Utah District 2
Incumbent Celeste Maloy defeated Nathaniel Woodward, Cassie Easley, and Tyler Murset in the general election for U.S. House Utah District 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Celeste Maloy (R) | 58.0 | 205,234 |
 | Nathaniel Woodward (D)  | 34.2 | 121,114 | |
 | Cassie Easley (Constitution Party) | 5.6 | 19,650 | |
 | Tyler Murset (Unaffiliated) | 2.2 | 7,840 | |
| Total votes: 353,838 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Nathaniel Woodward advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Utah District 2.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brian Adams (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Utah District 2
Incumbent Celeste Maloy defeated Colby Jenkins in the Republican primary for U.S. House Utah District 2 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Celeste Maloy | 50.1 | 53,748 |
 | Colby Jenkins | 49.9 | 53,534 | |
| Total votes: 107,282 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ty Jensen (R)
Constitution primary election
The Constitution primary election was canceled. Cassie Easley advanced from the Constitution primary for U.S. House Utah District 2.
Democratic convention
Democratic convention for U.S. House Utah District 2
Brian Adams advanced from the Democratic convention for U.S. House Utah District 2 on April 27, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ |  | Brian Adams (D) |
| ||||
| = 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 U.S. House Utah District 2
Colby Jenkins and incumbent Celeste Maloy advanced from the Republican convention for U.S. House Utah District 2 on April 27, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Colby Jenkins (R) | 56.8 | 469 |
| ✔ | | Celeste Maloy (R) | 43.2 | 356 |
| Total votes: 825 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ty Jensen (R)
Constitution convention
Constitution convention for U.S. House Utah District 2
Cassie Easley advanced from the Constitution convention for U.S. House Utah District 2 on April 13, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Cassie Easley (Constitution 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
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Woodward in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Nathaniel Woodward completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Woodward's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- PEOPLE FIRST. The political process is broken, it is designed to distract us from the real issues that effect us individually and as a community. In Utah all you hear from our elected leaders is the repeated narrative spun by partisan media instead of any discussion or proposed solutions to issues that we actually see. You will not hear me discuss topics like the border, involvement in foreign wars, or the second amendment until we have a working solution to why thousands of Utah children go home from school to empty refrigerators, why our sentencing laws do not advocate or protect adults with disabilities who have been sexually exploited, or why our working class is forced to bear the risk of employment.
- ENERGY. One power plant job equates to at least seven other support and collateral ones, which means that the closure of even one power plant is a death sentence to an entire community. Neither party is willing to work together although there are real solutions to address both climate and economic issues. By investing in carbon capture technology we can eliminate CO2 emissions from our power plants and benefit from the harvest of another valuable natural resources. If we are willing to work together, we have a solution that protects our climate, secures our current jobs, and creates even more. In Congress I will be relentless in proposing these kinds of solutions and holding those who don't listen accountable.
- EDUCATION. I strongly believe that we have a misunderstanding of the purpose of an education. Education should primarily be for the development of our minds and our abilities to solve problems, not perform a specific job. I didn’t necessarily need to have learned about mortgages or credit while in high school because I was taught the scientific method in biology, and the order of operations in algebra. Today, when I come up against a problem I use the tools I learned in school and know that I can figure out a solution. By finding ways to merge trade and traditional academic courses we will begin educating one of the most capable generations in history, taking the best aspects of each course and learning to apply it in other situations.
Each of them are examples of everything I hope to be - kind, creative, strong, adventurous.
I strongly believe that we need to address climate change, but we must do so responsibly and realistically. If we are going to pass regulations that will cause an industry to decline, we must first put into place safeguards that ensure that the people, the actual real-life people affected, are protected. One power plant job equates to at least seven other support and collateral ones, which means that the closure of even one power plant is a death sentence to an entire community, it’s history, roots, and residents. For example, the Huntington and Hunter power plants employ approximately 320 people, which translates to an additional 2,240 jobs and with the average family size in Utah being 3.5 this means that these two power plants directly and indirectly provide the income that supports 8,960 people. What is more frustrating is that there are viable solutions to address both the climate and economic issues, but it requires the cooperation of both political parties to achieve it. By investing in carbon recapture technology we will not only eliminate CO2 emissions from our power plants, we will also benefit from the harvest of another valuable natural resources. If we are willing to invest a little money and commit to bipartisan cooperation, we have a solution that protects our climate and not only secures our current jobs - but creates even more. We need an elected leader who not only has the courage to stand up to his own party when their well-intentioned policies are harming the folks who make up the backbone of our nation, but comes armed with actual solutions that benefit the people.
No matter what font you select, everything comes out in fine print.
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 website
Woodward’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Law Syndrome The poverty rate for working-age people with disabilities is 22.3 percent higher than those without disabilities. Despite the efforts of key civil rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Stephen Beck Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, individuals with Down syndrome still face barriers to living as full members of their communities. I will help to shed light on misconceptions that current federal public policy does not address. These laws affect individuals with Down syndrome as well as their families. The NDSS’ “Law Syndrome” campaign that I will fight for will give all individuals with Down syndrome, their families, the larger disability community and the general public a voice in confronting dated beliefs and further provide a platform to encourage other congressional leaders to act. People with Down syndrome are living longer, healthier and more productive lives; attending post-secondary education programs; getting married; are obtaining gainful employment; and are also more integrated into the fabric of society than ever before. NDSS’ “Law Syndrome campaign” will break down barriers that unjustly prevent people with Down syndrome from living their American dream. We must do better and I will not leave Congress without winning this fight. College So, do I believe college is worth it? ABSOLUTELY! I strongly believe that we have a tragic misunderstanding of the primary purpose of a college education. It’s not to get a job, but to expand your mind, teach you about our world, and make you a more thoughtful and critical thinker. One of my most brilliant colleagues from law school had been a working actor with a fine arts degree, a perfect example of my point. College, as well as our primary and secondary education, should primarily be for the development of our minds and our abilities to solve problems. I didn’t necessarily need to have learned about mortgages or credit while in high school because I was taught the scientific method in biology, and the order of operations in algebra. Because I actually learned why mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, I learned how to start at the beginning of a problem of which I did not know the answer, and through hard work and critical thought, come to the correct one. So today, when I come up against a problem, using the tools I learned in school I know that I can figure out the solution. Trade school should be held at the same level as a university education, without our technical education programs we simply could not function as a society. However, I feel there is the same disconnect happening with trade school as with universities, that the students are going in with the primary goal of getting a job. Education is so much more than learning to be a one-trick pony, it is an opportunity to develop your mind in such a way that should the need ever arise, you possess the mental skills required to adapt and change course. If our public universities incorporate trade programs then require all students to complete general requirements in both trade as well as traditional academic courses, incredible things will begin to happen. We will have students studying chemistry also learning how to weld, increasing their brains ability to reason and making them into even better problem solvers. We will have students studying diesel mechanics but also taking business classes, teaching them how to start and run their own companies rather than relying on the often lower-paying jobs offered by major national chains. On our campuses we will have dorm rooms full of a unique blend of minds and life paths. Imagine what industries could be born from an apartment full of engineering, business, natural resource management, welding, and diesel mechanic students simply sitting around their living room, discussing ideas. My alma mater in Price, USU Eastern, is already doing this and developing one of the most intellectually diverse campuses in the nation. It gives me chills just to think about what those students are about to bring into our world. Community With so much information and opinions available right at our fingertips it’s no wonder that we have begun to lose touch with those who live nearest to us. The world is such an amazing place and it’s important that we see what is going on, but there needs to be a balance between our focus on those issues and those happening in our own towns. I believe that through our small acts of service that hometown feeling can be recaptured. It’s incredible how much safer and friendlier the world feels when we build and maintain intimate community bonds. When we unite as a neighborhood we can unite as a town, then as a county, then as a state, and it only grows and grows. In Congress I will lead the charge in reminding our lawmakers that it is our communities that are the best suited to determine what is best for them. That it is the privilege of each community to determine how best to support its citizens, use their natural resources, protect their public lands, and dictate their own future. Because who knows what our towns need better than the people actually living in them? Congress should then pass legislation that reflects those exact problems and solutions. By taking an interest in the safety and wellbeing of the citizens of our hometowns we will naturally become a more compassionate society and by having the federal resources to make needed changes locally we can finally start to effectively address inequity. I promise that doing something as simple as mowing a neighbor’s lawn can and will have a global impact. Economy We have seen that many of our elected leaders will do nothing to stem the tide of corporate greed, as most of them are outright bought and paid for pawns for special interest groups. The corporations of this country have built an unsustainable system that is bleeding the average Utahn dry as they place the desires of their shareholders above the needs of their employees and customers. The system is so dystopian that if a corporation makes $20 billion in profit one year but $19 billion the next, the board of directors will fire the CEO, layoff thousands of workers, and raise prices. If they increase their profits from year to year, they increase executive pay, reduce product size, and raise prices. Every year it gets worse and every year our government does absolutely nothing about it. But did you know that nearly every community in Utah has small businesses whose owners raise, process, and sell locally raised meat? Or that there are as many locals selling everything from shampoo and soap to jewelry and suits? In Congress I will lead by advocating for each of our small businesses, owned by our friends and family, putting my efforts into organizing our communities into a strong union of buyers. If we each are willing to put in just a little extra effort and spend a little extra money by sourcing our groceries and goods from our local sellers, we will cut the government middleman out of the loop and take the power pack for ourselves. No congressional representative is going to have the power to change our entire economic system alone, but a leader that is willing to be a “boots on the ground” organizer in uniting us all in this common help break this endless wheel of corporate greed and finally allow middle-America to once again succeed. Together we can accomplish this and make our economy not only the strongest in the world, but also the fairest. Energy & Climate If you ever find yourself in Carbon or Emery Counties, I encourage you to take a walk through one of our cemeteries. As you do you will begin to notice something unique. On many of the headstones you will see four capitalized letters, UMWA. Imagine the love a person must have for something to put it on the own headstone, we put our names, the names of those we loved, the years we were alive, and in this case – our beloved Union. The Union built and sustained these rural communities and were the unifying glue that bound them together. However, beginning in 1980 with the Regan Administration, the unions were gutted and in the subsequent decades Union membership has dropped by more than 50%. The consequences are easily seen as every community that was bound together in the common cause of workers’ rights has been decimated. Growing up with family in the UMWA, I saw the importance of organized labor and what it meant to be part of a community. Today, there are zero active coal mines in Carbon County and the flawed popular opinion is that environmental policies are exclusively to blame. The reality is that while regulations certainly played a role, another huge contributor was the unchecked free market and corporations that could care less about the local economy because they would have no consequences since our Union had been targeted by the greedy business owners and their paid-for politicians. As a Democrat I intend to represent the needs of the people of my community and that includes confronting some hard truths. My party saw the reality of climate change and other environmental issues and took action, however, they did so irresponsibly and without critical thought about the devastation that would be wrought on so many small communities. When I took hunters safety as a kid one of the first lessons was that when you aim at a target, it is important to make sure that there is nobody standing behind it. My party shot the target, but in the process did not see that my community was standing behind it. I strongly believe that we need to address climate change, but we must do so responsibly and realistically. If we are going to pass regulations that may cause an industry to decline, we must first put into place safeguards that ensure that the people, the actual real-life people affected, are protected. One power plant job equates to seven other support and collateral ones, which means that the closure of even one power plant is a death sentence to an entire community, it’s history, roots, and residents. There is absolutely no reason why we cannot come to a solution that protects our climate while ensuring the workers who built and build this country continue to have good paying and secure careers. We need an elected leader who has to courage to stand up to his own party and remind all of Congress that our very purpose is to advocate for our people. I’m running to be that leader and today I am asking for your support in this endeavor. I will continue to fight for the security of our workers and brashly confront those who continue to allow the unchecked greed of the corporations to go unpunished. I will fight to unite our communities into a Union of citizens and stand arm-in-arm with you as we build a better tomorrow for our children. Your endorsement and contributions are an invaluable privilege that I do not ask for lightly or without a promise in return. That promise is simple, that when elected, I will advocate tirelessly for the needs and dreams of your members and their families. I can do this because I am the product of generations of hard working miners and Union members, it is in my DNA to seek out a good brawl and it’s time Congress had someone willing to punch back. Ashley’s Law I promise to take this fight to Washington and ensure Ashley’s Law is passed so our disabled children and siblings are protected and that our beautiful little warrior has a legacy that lasts forever. This ones for our precious Valkyrie Ashley. MEMO When a citizen of our state is raped and their attacker found guilty, the severity of the punishment will be determined by whether the victim was an adult or a minor. However, no substantive consideration is given as to an adult victim’s mental capacity, resulting in an inconsistent underlying philosophy as to why we justify more severe punishments for crimes against children. To address this discrepancy, it is proposed that the Utah criminal code be amended to include language that provides equal protections to adults with mental/cognitive capacity disabilities which reflect their mental age rather than physical. Ashley Vigil was born in 1992, a healthy beautiful baby girl with thick auburn hair. Her mother Paula was young, working two jobs, and attending college when about a year later she began to notice that Ashley’s behavior was changing. It started off small - struggling to maintain eye contact, hand wringing, and rocking in her seat but as the next few years passed the symptoms grew worse, until Ashley was no longer able to stand or crawl. Then began a seemingly endless series of tests and procedures all trying to get to the bottom of what was happening, the last words Ashley ever spoke out loud were “mama” as she was being poked and prodded by her attending medical staff. After several more years little Ashley was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder. Paula was told she would likely never see her 11th birthday. But Ashley was and always has been more than her diagnosis, she is strong - a warrior through and through. Now 31 years old, Ashley communicates through her beautiful smile and a palpable aura of strength and pure goodness. Not long ago a monster came into Ashley’s life in the form of a stepfather and conman. Initially, this man was everything they could have asked for, he seemed kind, attentive, and supportive but as time passed, he found it increasingly difficult to maintain the illusion. Ashley’s condition suddenly began to worsen as she started experiencing longer and more frequent seizures without any apparent explanation. To try and solve this mystery, Paula had surveillance cameras placed in their home to see if they could track the seizures in real-time, but what those cameras recorded was a horror beyond imagination. Ashley was being raped by her stepfather. She couldn’t cry out for help, couldn’t tell him to stop, couldn’t protest, and couldn’t communicate what had happened. This man knew he had a defenseless victim. Paula did everything right after finding out. She had him removed from the home, made every report she could, and did everything possible to make sure he could never hurt Ashley ever again. But the wheels of justice turn slow, and the law makes no distinction between the rape of an adult and someone like Ashley. The maximum punishment for Ashley’s attacker was paltry compared to the amount of damage he wrought upon her. Had Ashley been the same physical age as her mental age, he would not have escaped equitable justice so brazenly. Under current Utah law, sentencing a defendant convicted of rape is primarily dependent on who their victim was. Those laws currently provide two overly broad general classifications of victims: (1) adults; and (2) children. When the victim is an adult, Utah Code (“UCA”) 76-5-402 “Rape -- Penalties”, provides a baseline minimum sentence of five years up to life (non-mandatory). If found to have caused serious bodily injury to their victim during the commission of the rape or if the defendant was younger than 18 years old and had been previously convicted of a grievous sexual offense, they may receive a sentence of 15 years up to life (non-mandatory). The maximum sentence available provides life without parole if the trier of fact finds that an adult defendant had previously been convicted of a grievous sexual offense at the time, they committed the subject rape . A court may deviate from the sentencing structure provided for in (3)(b) and enact lesser sentences of 10 years up to life (non-mandatory) or six years up to life (non-mandatory) respectively . When the victim is a child, the sentence includes mandatory imprisonment, which is naturally more severe. Described within UCA 76-5-402.1 “Rape of a child – Penalties”, a defendant who rapes a child younger than 14 years old is guilty of a first degree felony and punishable by a prison sentence of 25 years to life or life without parole if the defendant was over 18 and the trier of fact finds that the actor caused serious bodily injury to the child or the actor had previously been convicted of a grievous sexual offense . A court could impose a shorter sentence of 15 years up to life, 10 years up to life, or six years up to life if the defendant was a first-time offender, under 21 years old at the time of the offense, and a lesser sentence would be in the interest of justice under the facts and circumstances . Sentencing can be enhanced if the defendant is found to have targeted the victim based on factors such as age, familial status, gender, and/or disability and it is the actor’s belief or perceptions regarding those attributes that caused them to act . The enhanced penalties available effectively raise the criminal penalty for the specific act by one degree, e.g. a class A misdemeanor becomes a third-degree felony. However, when a felony conviction is levied the enhancement is slightly different, e.g. a third-degree felony increases sentencing from 0-5 years to 1-5 years, a second-degree felony from 1-15 years to 2-15 years , and a first-degree felony has no change save that the sentencing judge and the parole board must consider it an aggravating factor . Currently, the sentencing laws for rape almost exclusively contemplate mental disability as it applies to the perpetrator, not the victim. As shown in both 76-5-402 and 76-5-402.1, the courts have discretion to reduce sentencing based on factors that are “in the interest of justice” and the mental capacity of the defendant may naturally be assumed to be a highly relevant one. It is also reasonable to assume that the purpose for having two specific sentencing laws, i.e. adults and children, is because as a society we have the common sense to understand that harming a child is more egregious than harming an adult. The foundation for this distinction cannot reasonably be argued to stem from a simple mathematical calculous, that punishment “X” is applied to ages ranging from 0-14 and “Y” to ages 15+ simply because black letter law requires some basic justification to exist. Rather, it is rational to proffer the argument that we punish crimes against children more severely because children are inherently more easily manipulated, emotionally immature, and physically vulnerable - being unable to defend themselves, among many other factors. Yet, Utah law is not consistent in applying that logic. To be consistent with the moral principles we claim to hold as a society and upon which we justify our right to enact and enforce our laws, we must ensure that those values are reflected in a consistent manner, especially where our most vulnerable citizens are concerned. The law must be changed to add language which accounts for our disabled citizens, primarily those who suffer from conditions and injuries that limit their cognitive capacities. A 31-year-old with the mental capacity of a child is just as vulnerable, if not more so, than an actual child and the rape of that individual should naturally carry a similar sentence. Therefore, we must amend our current criminal code to rectify this oversight and create sentencing laws that acknowledge the reality in which our disabled citizens exist. I propose that 76-5-402. “Rape -- Penalties” be amended to include language that acknowledges that the rape of a mentally disabled person deserves a more severe punishment. The sentencing for these crimes should reflect those imposed for rape of a child and include mandatory imprisonment.[2] |
” |
| —Nathaniel Woodward’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
Campaign finance summary
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 10, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Nathaniel Woodward’s campaign website, “Platforms,” accessed October 17, 2024
