Sean Reyes

Sean D. Reyes (born February 16, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician, currently serving as the 21st Attorney General of Utah. He was appointed by Governor Gary Herbert following the resignation of John Swallow.[1] He is a member of the Republican Party and has served as a county, state and national delegate for the Republican Party and a member of the State Central Committee, the governing body of the Utah Republican Party.

Sean Reyes
21st Attorney General of Utah
Assumed office
December 30, 2013
GovernorGary Herbert
Preceded byJohn Swallow
Personal details
Born (1971-02-16) February 16, 1971
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Saysha Reyes
Children6
EducationBrigham Young University
(BA)
University of California,
Berkeley (JD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early Life and education

Reyes was raised in Southern California. His father was an immigrant from the Philippines of both Filipino and Spanish descent. His mother was of Native Hawaiian and Japanese descent.[2] He is a cousin of former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay.[3]

Reyes earned his bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1994.[4] He graduated from University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 1997.[5]

Career

Reyes spent 14 years working at Utah's largest law firm, Parsons Behle & Latimer,[6] where he became the first person of color to become a partner.[7] He practiced in commercial litigation and employment law.[5] He later became general counsel for eTAGz, a Springville, Utah-based media and technology company[8] that aimed to develop products for embedding digital files on packaging.[6] He was also a partner and co-founder of the venture capital firm Accelerate Ventures.[9] Reyes served as a state small claims court judge and as president of the Minority Bar Association.[10]

Politics

Reyes ran for Attorney General of Utah in 2012 against John Swallow. He lost the primary election by a margin of 68 to 32 percent.[11] After Swallow resigned amid scandal in December 2013,[6] Reyes was chosen to replace him. Reyes was selected as one of three candidates by the Utah Republican Party State Central Committee on December 14, 2013. Governor Gary Herbert appointed Reyes as the next Attorney General of Utah on Dec 23, 2013.[1]

Because of Utah's election laws, Reyes had to run in the 2014 Utah elections to be elected to finish out the remainder of Swallow's term.[12] He won with 63.06 percent of the vote over his Democratic challenger, Charles A. Stormont, and Libertarian candidate Andrew McCullough.[13]

As attorney general, Reyes frequently joined other Republican state attorneys general who sued the Obama administration on various issues, ranging from federal lands use to transgender rights.[9] Immediately after taking office, Reyes appealed Judge Robert J. Shelby's ruling that struck down Amendment 3, the state's same-sex marriage ban.[14] The estimated $2 million price tag in appealing Shelby's ruling was criticized by The Advocate, Daily Kos, and ThinkProgress.[15][16][17] In response, Reyes stated, "We're willing to spend whatever it takes to protect the laws and the will of the people" and that "everyone benefits from appealing the case."[18]

In 2016, it was reported that members of the Latter Day Church of Christ, a Mormon fundamentalist denomination, had donated to Reyes' campaign for attorney general individually and through Washakie Renewable Energy, a business partially owned by members of the LDCC. Reyes' representatives indicated in response to these reports that the contributions had been placed in escrow.[19]

Sean Reyes speaking at the Horasis Global China Business Meeting in 2019.

In late-January 2017, Reyes was named as a top candidate for the chairmanship of the Federal Trade Commission by officials in the Trump administration.[20]

In 2020, Reyes announced he was running for a third term as Utah State Attorney General, and was being challenged for the Republican nomination by David Leavitt.[21]

Personal life

Reyes and his wife Saysha have six children.[22][23]

Reyes and his immediate family are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[24]

Electoral history
Utah Attorney General Republican Primary Election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Swallow 156,644 67.95
Republican Sean Reyes 73,868 32.05
Utah Attorney General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sean Reyes (inc.) 355,275 63.06
Democratic Charles Stormont 151,967 26.97
Libertarian Andrew McCullough 22,333 3.96
Constitution Gregory Hansen 18,722 3.32
Independent American Leslie Curtis 15,108 2.68
Utah Attorney General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sean D. Reyes (inc.) 719,043 65.41
Democratic John V. Harper 275,568 25.07
Libertarian W. Andrew McCullough 73,973 6.73
Independent American Michael W. Isbell 30,687 2.79

References
  1. "Gov. Gary Herbert names Sean Reyes as Utah attorney general". Deseret News. December 23, 2013.
  2. Jan. 10, 2016 Deseret News article on Reyes
  3. Carrington, Lynette, "Attorney of the Month Attorney General Sean Reyes Carries on Legacy of Service", Attorney at Law Magazine
  4. Doug Robinson, Sean Reyes — Out of the 'hood, into the AG's office, Desert News (January 10, 2016).
  5. Sean Reyes '97 Wins First ABA National Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, University of California, Berkeley School of Law (November 29, 2007).
  6. Robert Gehrke, Reyes tackles tall tasks as Utah's new attorney general, Salt Lake Tribune (December 31, 2013).
  7. Young Lawyer Sean Reyes, face of modern Utah, Deseret News (February 7, 2008).
  8. "Gov. names Sean Reyes as Utah attorney general". Daily Herald. Associated Press. December 23, 2013.
  9. Tony Romm, Trump transition weighing Utah attorney general for FTC, Politico (January 17, 2017).
  10. Swallow vs. Reyes: A Heated GOP Race for Utah's Next Attorney General, Utah Public Radio.
  11. Romboy, Dennis (June 26, 2012). "Swallow beats Reyes in AG race; Dougall wins for auditor". KSL.com. KSL-TV.
  12. "Gov. names Sean Reyes as Utah attorney general", Daily Herald, December 23, 2013, retrieved June 26, 2014
  13. 2014 Election Results
  14. Farinas, Gerald (December 30, 2013). "New Utah attorney general vows to defend same-sex marriage ban". Chicago Phoenix. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2016.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  15. Ford, Zack (January 6, 2014). "Utah's Novel Argument: Banning Same-Sex Marriage Encourages 'Diversity' In Parenting". ThinkProgress. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  16. Anderson-Minshall, Diane. "Utah to Spend Whopping $2 Million to Fight Marriage". The Advocate. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  17. Boerl, Dr. Christopher (December 30, 2013). "Utah to Spend $2 Million Fighting Marriage Equality, Questions Arise Regarding Fiscal Values". Daily Kos. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  18. Roche, Lisa Roche (December 30, 2013). "Attorney General Sean Reyes takes oath, poised to appeal gay marriage ruling". Deseret News. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  19. Winslow, Ben (February 15, 2016). "Company linked to Kingston polygamous group spends a lot on Utah's Capitol Hill". Fox13. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  20. Apuzzo, Matt (April 28, 2017). "Utah Attorney General Makes a Trump Shortlist, and Donations Pour In". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  21. Richards, Connor (March 16, 2020). "Utah County Attorney David Leavitt announces run for Utah Attorney General". Daily Herald. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  22. O'Donoghue, Amy Joi (December 23, 2013), "Sean Reyes vows to restore 'integrity' to Utah Attorney General's Office", Deseret News
  23. O'Donoghue, Amy Joi (December 23, 2013). "New A.G. Sean Reyes pledges to 'raise the bar'". KSL News. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  24. "REAL LAWYER REAL LEADER REAL EXPERIENCE" (PDF). SeanReyes.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
Legal offices
Preceded by
John Swallow		 Attorney General of Utah
2013–present		 Incumbent
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