Richard Whitney (Utah)

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Richard Whitney

Democratic Party

Candidate, Utah State Senate District 13

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Next convention

April 11, 2026

Education

Associates

Salt Lake Community College

Bachelor's

University of Utah

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Marine Corps

Richard Whitney (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Utah State Senate to represent District 13. He declared candidacy for the Democratic convention scheduled on April 11, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Richard Whitney served in the United States Marine Corps. He received an associate degree from Salt Lake Community College and a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah.

Elections

2026

See also: Utah State Senate elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Utah State Senate District 13

Silvia Catten (D), Evan Done (D), Taylor J. Paden (D), and Richard Whitney (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Utah State Senate District 13 on June 23, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Silvia Catten
	Submit photo	Evan Done
	Submit photo	Taylor J. Paden
		Richard Whitney

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah State Senate District 13

Silvia Catten (D), Evan Done (D), Taylor J. Paden (D), and Richard Whitney (D) are running in the Democratic convention for Utah State Senate District 13 on April 11, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Silvia Catten
	Submit photo	Evan Done
	Submit photo	Taylor J. Paden
		Richard Whitney

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican convention

Republican convention for Utah State Senate District 13

Ryan L. Mahoney (R) is running in the Republican convention for Utah State Senate District 13 on April 18, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Ryan L. Mahoney

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Utah Forward Party convention

Utah Forward convention for Utah State Senate District 13

Colin Smith (Utah Forward Party) is running in the Utah Forward Party convention for Utah State Senate District 13 on March 28, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Colin Smith

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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2020

See also: Utah gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2020

Utah gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2020 (June 30 Republican primary)

General election

General election for Governor of Utah

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Utah on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Spencer Cox (R)	63.0	918,754
		Chris Peterson (D)	30.3	442,754
		Daniel Cottam (L)	3.5	51,393
		Gregory Duerden (Independent American Party of Utah)	1.8	25,810
	Submit photo	Madeline Kazantzis (Independent) (Write-in)	1.3	18,988
		Kristena Conlin (Independent) (Write-in)	0.1	937
		Richard Whitney (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	230
	Submit photo	Tyler Batty (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	12

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,458,878
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Utah

Spencer Cox defeated Jon Huntsman, Gregory Hughes, and Thomas Wright in the Republican primary for Governor of Utah on June 30, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Spencer Cox	36.1	190,565
		Jon Huntsman	34.9	184,246
		Gregory Hughes	21.0	110,835
		Thomas Wright	7.9	41,532

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 527,178
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jan Garbett (R)

Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Governor of Utah

The following candidates ran in the Democratic convention for Governor of Utah on April 25, 2020.

		Candidate
		Neil Hansen (D)
	Submit photo	Ryan Jackson (D)
		Zachary Moses (D)
✔		Chris Peterson (D)
		Nikki Pino (D)
		Archie Williams III (D)

---

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

Republican Convention for Governor of Utah

Select round: Round 6 Round 5 Round 4 Round 3 Round 2 Round 1

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Gregory Hughes in round 6 , and Spencer Cox in round 6 . 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.

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Spencer Cox	55.0	1,884	396	Advanced (6)
		Gregory Hughes	45.0	1,544	437	Advanced (6)
		Aimee Winder Newton	0.0	0	-918	6
		Thomas Wright	0.0	0	0	5
		Jeff Burningham	0.0	0	0	4
		Jon Huntsman	0.0	0	0	3
		Jason Christensen	0.0	0	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Spencer Cox	42.4	1,488	201	Advanced (6)
		Gregory Hughes	31.5	1,107	206	Advanced (6)
		Aimee Winder Newton	26.1	918	215	6
		Thomas Wright	0.0	0	-658	5
		Jeff Burningham	0.0	0	0	4
		Jon Huntsman	0.0	0	0	3
		Jason Christensen	0.0	0	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Spencer Cox	36.3	1,287	64	Advanced (6)
		Gregory Hughes	25.4	901	182	Advanced (6)
		Aimee Winder Newton	19.8	703	163	6
		Thomas Wright	18.5	658	105	5
		Jeff Burningham	0.0	0	-530	4
		Jon Huntsman	0.0	0	0	3
		Jason Christensen	0.0	0	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Spencer Cox	34.3	1,223	141	Advanced (6)
		Gregory Hughes	20.2	719	45	Advanced (6)
		Aimee Winder Newton	15.1	540	32	6
		Thomas Wright	15.5	553	59	5
		Jeff Burningham	14.9	530	26	4
		Jon Huntsman	0.0	0	-315	3
		Jason Christensen	0.0	0	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Spencer Cox	30.2	1,082	1	Advanced (6)
		Gregory Hughes	18.8	674	11	Advanced (6)
		Aimee Winder Newton	14.2	508	8	6
		Thomas Wright	13.8	494	5	5
		Jeff Burningham	14.1	504	17	4
		Jon Huntsman	8.8	315	0	3
		Jason Christensen	0.0	0	-44	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Spencer Cox	30.2	1,081	0	Advanced (6)
		Gregory Hughes	18.5	663	0	Advanced (6)
		Aimee Winder Newton	14.0	500	0	6
		Thomas Wright	13.7	489	0	5
		Jeff Burningham	13.6	487	0	4
		Jon Huntsman	8.8	315	0	3
		Jason Christensen	1.2	44	0	2

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 3,579
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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2020

Richard Whitney completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Whitney's responses.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Richard is a fifth generation Utahn, a descendant of the original pioneer settlers. A graduate of Salt Lake Community College and University of Utah. He's a Marine and has Multiple Sclerosis. He worked for 10 years with youth, from Special Education, At Risk Granite School District programs and The Boy's and Girl's Clubs of Greater Salt Lake, where he was a Technology Instructor and worked with the Horizonte program.

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?

• Giving the people another option
• The people's voice has been heard and disregarded through the propositions.
• Let me work for you!

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The people's voice has been heard and disregarded through the propositions. We are among the lowest in spending per student, yet we have a surplus in education funding, how about better pay for teachers, more before and after school programs, daycare/preschool, more college and trade school transitional education.

We have to concentrate on the future of Utah, and not just the pockets of a few.
I'm a USMC vet, I served to protect today, teachers serve to create the future.
And stop selling off trust lands, SITLA.
They want to raise taxes or find a way at the education surplus. How about we stop showering businesses with tax breaks and subsidies to come to Utah. Before tax breaks and subsidies are considered, they have to prove the benefit to the average Utah citizen. Like a company getting millions and only having a staff of 25 people.
Full Medicaid expansion to fill the income gap for medical care.
Being disabled with MS and involved with the disabled community, there are many accessibility issues that need to be addressed. We need to audit this, we are fellow Utahns, help us become part of the community.
Veteran's pension are taxed by a few states, Utah is one of them. Retired veterans served our country, devoted their lives, so we can enjoy the lives we have, their service was tax enough.

Enough is enough.

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

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

See also

2026 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Utah State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Kirk Cullimore

Minority Leader:Luz Escamilla

Senators

District 1

Scott Sandall (R)

District 2

Chris Wilson (R)

District 3

John Johnson (R)

District 4

Calvin Musselman (R)

District 5

Ann Millner (R)

District 6

Jerry Stevenson (R)

District 7

Stuart Adams (R)

District 8

Todd Weiler (R)

District 9

Jennifer Plumb (D)

District 10

Luz Escamilla (D)

District 11

Emily Buss (F)

District 12

Karen Kwan (D)

District 13

Nate Blouin (D)

District 14

Stephanie Pitcher (D)

District 15

Kathleen Riebe (D)

District 16

Wayne Harper (R)

District 17

Lincoln Fillmore (R)

District 18

Dan McCay (R)

District 19

Kirk Cullimore (R)

District 20

Ronald Winterton (R)

District 21

Brady Brammer (R)

District 22

Heidi Balderree (R)

District 23

Keith Grover (R)

District 24

Keven Stratton (R)

District 25

Mike McKell (R)

District 26

David Hinkins (R)

District 27

Derrin Owens (R)

District 28

Evan Vickers (R)

District 29

Don Ipson (R)

Republican Party (22)

Democratic Party (6)

Forward Party (1)