Bennion Lloyd Spencer (born October 26, 1952) is a journalist and professor, and was the 2008 Democratic candidate for

Utah's 3rd congressional district Utah's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. It is located in southern and eastern Utah and includes the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem and Provo, Utah, Provo. The district was created ...

running against Republican

Jason Chaffetz Jason E. Chaffetz (; born March 26, 1967) is an American retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until his resignation in 2017. He chaired the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2015 until 2017. Ch ...

Biographical background

A native of

Layton, Utah Layton ( /ˈleɪʔɪn/) is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 81,773, with 2022 Census Bureau estimates showing an ...

, Spencer served a two-year mission for the

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded during ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. In 1976, he received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Broadcast Communications from

Weber State College Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

. After five years as a reporter, he completed a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

in 1985. Spencer spent 25 years as a journalist in both Texas and Utah. In

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, he was a television news reporter at

KTVX KTVX (channel 4) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Ogden-licensed KUCW (channel 30), an owned-and-operated station of The CW. The two stations sh ...

, from 1980-1985. He then became news producer at

KSL-TV KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus C ...

from 1985-1996. Moving to

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

, he was TV news director at

KBMT KBMT (channel 12) is a television station in Beaumont, Texas, United States, affiliated with ABC and NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside low-power MyNetworkTV affiliate KUIL-LD (channel 12.5). The two stations share studios along I-10/ ...

from 1996-1998. Spencer now resides in

Riverton, Utah Riverton is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest ...

. Spencer has also been an instructor at

Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves almost 50,000 students on 8 campuses as well as through online ...

Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah, United States. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July ...

and

Neumont University Neumont College of Computer Science (formerly Neumont University, originally named Northface University) is a private for-profit career college in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 2003 by Graham Doxey, Scott McKinley, and Marlow Einelund ...

. While at Salt Lake Community College, he developed a broadcast journalism program for Spanish-speaking students. Spencer was also faculty advisor for

Operation Smile Operation Smile is a nonprofit medical service organization founded in 1982 by husband and wife William P. Magee Jr. and Kathleen (Kathy) S. Magee. It is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In addition to providing cleft lip and palate rep ...

at Utah Valley State College. In 2007, he helped Dick Nourse, former KSL anchor and colleague, establish the Dick Nourse Center for Mass Communications and Journalism at Dixie State College in

St. George, Utah St. George or Saint George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The cit ...

Campaigns

Spencer ran for

Utah State Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature (US), state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members, each representing one senate district. Each senate ...

District 5 District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * District 5, an electoral district of Malta * District 5, a police district of Malta * Palma-Palmilla, also kno ...

in 2000, and again in 2002 for District 11, losing both races.

2008 congressional race

In May 2008, Spencer was nominated by Dick Nourse and unopposed as the Democratic candidate for Utah's 3rd Congressional District. Spencer was considered a long shot against

in the heavily Republican 3rd district. In August 2008, he received international press for commenting to ''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'' about how

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

would vote. Spencer indicated positively when asked if he thought that he would win Jesus' vote, a statement he later retracted under pressure from conservative media. Bennion lost with 28 percent of the vote to Chaffetz's 66 percent.

Notes

Sources

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External links

2008 Congressional campaign site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Bennion 1952 births 20th-century Mormon missionaries Latter Day Saints from Utah American Mormon missionaries in England American Mormon missionaries in the United Kingdom Utah Tech University people Living people Mormon missionaries in Wales People from Layton, Utah People from Riverton, Utah Utah Democrats Utah State University alumni Utah Valley University faculty Weber State University alumni