Jenny Wilson (politician)

Jenny Wilson (born November 1, 1965) is an American politician currently serving her second six-year term as an at-large member of the Salt Lake County Council. She was the first female council member. In September 2006, she was a primary candidate for mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah.^[1] In 2016, she was Utah's national committeewoman for the Democratic Party.^[2] She is a daughter of Ted Wilson, former mayor of Salt Lake City.

In July 2017, Wilson announced that she would be running for the U.S. Senate, originally to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Orrin Hatch in 2018. In January 2018, Hatch announced he would not seek re-election, leaving the seat open.

Career

Wilson is a leadership, public relations and media consultant. She was re-elected to her second term on the Salt Lake County Council in 2014, having previously served from 2005 to 2011. On the Council, she spearheaded policy initiatives for ethics reform and open space preservation, and an initiative that provides health benefits to the partners of LGBT county employees. She served as a member of the Salt Lake County Council of Governments and as a board member of the Unified Fire Authority. She co-founded the Jordan River Commission.

Wilson has held positions in administration, fundraising and project management for the Sundance Institute and Film Festival, the Sundance Group, the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games of 2002, Voices for Utah Children, and the University of Utah’s John A. Moran Eye Center. Her past and present board and committee assignments include the Sundance Institute Utah Advisory Board, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Discovery Gateway: Utah Children’s Museum, and Salt Lake Community Action.

In 1991, she served at the federal level as assistant press secretary to U.S. Rep. Les AuCoin (D-OR) and from 1992–1996 as chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Bill Orton (D-UT). She assisted the Democratic Caucus of the Utah State Legislature in 1998.

Personal life

Raised in Salt Lake City, one of five children, Wilson is the daughter of Ted Wilson, mayor of Salt Lake City from 1976–1985, and Kathy Wilson, an artist and small business owner. She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She graduated from East High School in 1983 and the University of Utah in 1988, and received a Masters in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1998. In 2013, she produced and directed a documentary film, The Grand Rescue, about a dramatic three-day rescue by park rangers, one of whom was her father, on the North Face of the Grand Teton.^[3] Wilson and her husband, Trell Rohovit, have two sons.

2018 U.S. Senatorial campaign

Campaign logo

In July 2017, Wilson announced her intention to run in 2018 for the U.S. Senate against Orrin Hatch. In January 2018 Hatch announced he would retire at the end of his seventh term, leaving the seat open.^[4] Wilson raised nearly $140,000 in the second-quarter fundraising period.^[5]

References

External links

• Salt Lake County Council
• Campaign website