From left to right: Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, Senate President Stuart Adams, Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore and Senate Majority Leader Chris Wilson talk to reporters after Senate Republicans chose a new slate of legislative leaders during a private caucus at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Nov. 7, 2024. (Katie McKellar / Utah News Dispatch)
The Republican majority of the Utah Legislature met in closed caucus meetings Thursday night to choose their next set of legislative leaders — causing some commotion in the Senate, but the same set of faces in the House of Representatives.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, remains the Senate’s top Republican. But Senate Republicans otherwise elected a new slate, promoting Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, (who served as assistant majority whip this year) to the second-most powerful leadership position as majority leader, a position previously held by Sen. Evan Vickers , R-Cedar City.
Senate Republicans also opted for a new majority whip, electing Sen. Chris Wilson, R-Logan, over Sen. Ann Millner, R-Ogden. And to take on Cullimore’s previous role as majority aide, the Republican Senate chose Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork.
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In the House of Representatives, the Republican majority decided to maintain the status quo and re-elected Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper; House Majority Leader Jefferson Moss, R-Saratoga Springs; House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield; and House Majority Assistant Whip Casey Snider, R-Paradise.
Schultz told reporters that none of the House leadership races were contested this year.
The two leadership teams told reporters in separate media available after their closed caucus elections Tuesday evening that they look forward to prioritizing a variety of issues during the Utah Legislature’s 2025 legislative session.
These include “becoming more energy independent, strengthening water optimization and development, supporting students and teachers, protecting children from the harms of social media, making life more affordable for Utahns, and investing in infrastructure projects to manage Utah’s growth,” Senate Republicans said in a speech. press release.
Republican legislative leaders expressed excitement about working with a future administration under newly elected President Donald Trump, while continuing their legal battle through a petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to deprive 18.5 million acres of “unappropriated” public lands away from the Bureau of Land Management.
Senate leadership is changing
Cullimore, McKell and Wilson said they sought their new positions not out of a desire to change the Senate’s policy decisions, but rather out of an opportunity to move into leadership positions. All three expressed respect for their predecessors.
“There have been virtually no policy discussions. This was not about a different policy direction or anything like that,” Cullimore said. “I think overall, everyone in the Senate chamber is quite pleased with the direction the Senate has taken.”
McKell repeated the same. “For me it wasn’t about policy. It was just about an opportunity to serve in this capacity,” he said.
Adams praised the Senate Republican caucus, saying they had to make some tough choices but came through them “united.”
“This was a tough leadership election, but I believe we are more united after the election than before,” Adams said. “At least that’s what I felt during the election process.”
McKell said the only friction that surfaced during this leadership election was that senators were forced to choose between “two people that you really care about, that you really respect.”
“I had a hard time with that. I didn’t feel like there was any tension; I felt like all the races were very respectful and very professional from top to bottom.
Wilson said those who made an unsuccessful leadership bid “will still be highly respected members of our caucus” and “will be deeply involved in the direction of future policy.”
However, Adams said he felt “uneasy” about this leadership election because “I am going to miss Senator Vickers and Senator Millner. So there is fear, and yet we have a great leadership team here.”
Priorities for 2025
In the House of Representatives, Schultz said House Republicans will work in the coming months to “establish” specific priorities for the 2025 general session, which will begin on January 25. in recent years: water (what policies work or don’t work when it comes to conservation or development) and “working closely with the federal government to ensure Utah remains a sovereign state.”
Under a future Trump presidency, Schultz said one of the “biggest” policy shifts he expects will be in public land control. The Biden administration, he said, “closed access to the citizens of this state and closed recreational opportunities.”
“That’s probably one of the biggest and most important things that I consider a top priority: making sure that our public lands remain public, accessible to everyone, and we’re going to fight hard to make sure that happens,” Schultz said.
However, a Trump presidency does not mean that Republican leaders in Utah will withdraw their petition to the US Supreme Court. Schultz said, “Regardless of government, this is a petition that we will still move forward with.”
Snider said Utah will continue the legal battle to prevent future “yo-yoing” on federal control of public lands, depending on who controls the White House. “To resolve this in a way that benefits all interests in the long term, we need legal certainty,” Snider said, “and the only way to get to that point is through that petition.”
Adams said one of his top priorities is Utah’s energy independence because, he predicted, it will become increasingly important as artificial intelligence gains prominence.
“We know that AI is going to control the world… and the country that controls AI is going to control the world, both economically and militarily,” Adams said. “And AI depends on data centers. Data centers depend on energy. And in the rest of the country, everyone is looking for energy, all over the world.”
Adams said Utah does not have a “surplus of energy,” so “energy has to be one of our top priorities.”
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