Senator Karen Mayne (D – West Valley) has been elected to serve as Senate Minority Leader.
First appointed to the Senate in 2008, Mayne has served as Minority Whip for the past four years. Senator Mayne represents Senate District 5, an area encompassing much of West Valley City, Taylorsville, and Kearns, and is a proud life-long resident of the west side of Salt Lake County.
Senator Luz Escamilla (D – Salt Lake) has been elected Senate Minority Whip. Representing Senate District 1 (Northwest Quadrant of Salt Lake City and northern West Valley City), Senator Escamilla was elected to the Senate in 2008. She previously served as Assistant Minority Whip.
Currently Serving as Senate Caucus Manager, Senator Jani Iwamoto (D – Holladay) was elected Assistant Minority Whip. Senator Iwamoto, the first Asian American woman elected to office in the State of Utah, represents Holladay along with portions of Salt Lake City, Millcreek, and Murray in Senate District 4.
Rounding out the leadership team will be Senator-elect Derek Kitchen (D – Salt Lake) who as elected to serve as Minority Caucus Manager. Kitchen becomes only the second freshman Senator in recent memory to be elected to Senate Leadership, a distinction previously held by Senator Escamilla. The newly-elected Senator will represent District 2, which stretches from Glendale, through the heart of Salt Lake City, to the Avenues and Emigration Canyon.
Speaking on Friday, Senator Mayne stated, “We are looking forward to working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers to do the work the people of this state have elected us to do. Utah faces many challenges, and we owe it to the citizens of this state to come together to find solutions that will ensure a secure and prosperous future for all Utahns.”
