Oscar Mata

Oscar Mata

Democratic Party of Utah Vice Chair

Tenure

Present officeholder

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Personal

Birthplace

Payson, Utah

Religion

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Profession

Small business owner

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Oscar Mata is an officeholder of the Democratic Party of Utah Vice Chair.

Mata (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Utah House of Representatives to represent District 8. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Mata completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Oscar Mata was born in Payson, Utah. His career experience includes working as a small business owner.

Elections

2020

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 8

Incumbent Steve Waldrip defeated Oscar Mata in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 8 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Waldrip (R)	57.0	10,067
		Oscar Mata (D)	43.0	7,600

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 17,667
= 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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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 8

Oscar Mata advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 8 on April 25, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Oscar Mata (D)

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	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 8

Incumbent Steve Waldrip advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 8 on April 25, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Steve Waldrip (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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Mata's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Oscar Mata completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Mata'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 am a local business owner of a substance abuse treatment center offering services across Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. I am an avid outdoorsman, hunter, and fish man. I have served in multiple capacities on boards and committees helping in Ogden City and Weber County.

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?

• Supporting our local businesses
• Protecting our public lands
• Advocating for improvements in Education

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Has someone who has worked in the criminal justice sector, I have seen firsthand the great things our law enforcement has worked towards and where we fall short. I would like to bring that knowledge and experience to The Utah Legislature and work with both parties and the governor to craft a criminal justice reform bill, that can be used as an example for the rest of the country.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Someone who has always been a great example to me has been my Mother. Raising two wild boys as a single mother was no easy task, let alone starting a successful small business on top of that. My mother taught me the values of hard work, compassion for others, and giving back to my community.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was working for my Mom's small business tasks included answering the phone, cleaning the bathroom, and any other grunt work. I loved working for my family business, it taught me hard work and Utah values.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

The relationship between the executive and legislative branch should be one of a partnership and getting things done regardless of partisanship. As well as, a relationship of check and balance on the other branch.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Absolutely, anyone who is elected must remember they are one of 75 legislators. A way to get good legislation passed is working with representatives in different areas around the state and especially those across the aisle.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

I am against the practice of gerrymandering. I do not think elected officials should be aloud to pick their voters, rather voters should pick their elected officials.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Representative Lou Shurtliff has been an outstanding example to me on how to be not just a graceful representative, but an effective one as well. Her relationship and connection to the voters in her district is frankly remarkable, and something I look forward to replicating in district eight.

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

While my campaign was calling voters to check in and make sure they were safe and had resources available to them, we heard so many stories that were moving to me. Whether it was the voter that asked for the number for a domestic violence center, someone who needed their taxes done, or the elderly woman who needed groceries delivered to her. It was remarkable to see my campaign able to assist so many in my district during the pandemic.

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.

See also

2020 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

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External links

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Footnotes

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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)