Utah Sen. Deidre Henderson of Spanish Fork filed to run for the post of Lt. Governor on Thursday at the State Capitol.
SALT LAKE CITY – Lt. Governor Spencer Cox took a brief break from heading the Utah Coronavirus Task Force to announce his partner in the ongoing gubernatorial race.
In a Facebook video posted Thursday morning, Cox announced State Sen. Deidre Henderson of Spanish Fork as his running mate.
Henderson has represented District 7 in the Utah Senate since 2012, which covers the southwestern portion of Utah County. Henderson had previously announced Wednesday that she would not seek reelection to her Senate seat.
Cox cited Henderson’s willingness to do the right thing in crisis situations like the 2018 Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires as his motivation for selecting her to be his running mate.
In the most recent session of the legislature, Henderson sponsored a bill to reclassify bigamy as an infraction instead of a third-degree felony. Henderson defended the proposal by saying that polygamists in Utah “are tired of being treated like second-class citizens” and “feel like Utah has legalized prejudice against them.”
S.B. 102 received overwhelming support from lawmakers, 19 of whom signed on as co-sponsors. Prosecutors and polygamists testified in legislative committees that decriminalizing bigamy would prevent abuse in polygamist communities and lead to social integration.
Cox also stated that Henderson would immediately be taking a leading role in their campaign while he continued to lead Utah’s efforts to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.
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