Enid Greene Mickelsen, formerly Enid Greene Waldholtz (born June 5, 1958), is an American politician from the
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
who served one term in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
. She was the third woman and first Republican woman elected to Congress from Utah. No woman was elected to Congress from Utah from her retirement in 1997 until
Mia Love
Ludmya "Mia" Love (née Bourdeau; December 6, 1975 – March 23, 2025) was an American political commentator and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district from ...
's election in 2014.
Early life
Greene was born in
San Rafael, California
San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...
, to naval officer and financier D. Forrest Greene and Gerda Marie Beyer. She is one of five children. She graduated from
East High School and earned her
B.A.
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
from the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
in 1980. She received her
J.D. degree from
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
in 1983.
She worked as a lawyer for
software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
company
Novell
Novell, Inc. () was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as NetWare. Novell technolog ...
and then at a
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 ...
law firm. She was deputy chief of staff for Governor
Norman H. Bangerter.
Mickelsen and
Jon Huntsman Jr.
Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. (born March 26, 1960) is an American politician, businessman, and diplomat who served as the 16th governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the ambassador of the United States ...
were co-directors of
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
's campaign in Utah.
Career
Run for the U.S. House of Representatives
While serving as chair of the Young Republican National Federation (YRNF), Enid met Joe Waldholtz, and they were soon in a relationship. Greene ran for the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
in 1992 against
Karen Shepherd
Karen Rae Shepherd (née Felker; born July 5, 1940) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.
Early life
Shepherd was born Karen Rae Felker in Silver City, New Mexico, where her father ...
for the Utah Second District, which was entirely contained in
Salt Lake County
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 city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The co ...
at that time, losing by four percentage points.
Second run for U.S. House of Representatives
Greene married Waldholtz in 1993. After her marriage, Greene took the name ''Enid Greene Waldholtz''. During her 1994 rematch against Shepherd, Joe acted as her campaign manager. Her campaign spent approximately $2 million, the most expensive House race in the country that year. Greene was swept into the
104th Congress
The 104th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 19 ...
in the Republican landslide in November. She was named to the House Rules Committee, the first freshman on that committee in over 80 years.
In March 1995, she announced she was pregnant. Greene became the second representative ever to give birth while in office (the first being
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
Yvonne Pearl Burke (née Watson, later Brathwaite; born October 5, 1932) is an American politician and lawyer from California. She was the first African-American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress. She served in the U.S. Congress from ...
) and the first Republican.
Misuse of funds
Her term was marred with scandal as her campaign was accused of campaign finance violations. Almost $1.8 million of the money spent in the 1994 campaign came from her husband, Joe, who had embezzled nearly $4 million from her father. Joe Waldholtz disappeared in November 1995 for six days before surrendering to the police. During that time, she announced that she was suing for
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
, for custody of her daughter, and to change her name to 'Enid Greene'. ''The Washington Post'' reported that Waldholtz was addicted to heroin.
Under pressure from Utah Republicans, she announced on March 5, 1996, that she would not seek re-election to Congress. Joe Waldholtz pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax, bank, and campaign fraud, and then, while out on
parole
Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
, was subsequently convicted of forging insurance and
Veterans Affairs
Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...
checks from his stepmother and his late father. He was sentenced to three to 15 years in prison.
Comeback
Greene slowly returned to Utah state politics. In 2003, she was elected vice chair of the
Utah Republican Party
The Utah Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently the dominant party in the state, and has been for almost all of its history. It currently holds Utah's entire congressional delegation ...
.
Greene was a candidate for
Lieutenant Governor of Utah
The office of the lieutenant governor of Utah was created in 1975. Nine people have held the position since then.
Prior to the creation of the lieutenant governor's office, the succession to the governorship of Utah was held by the Utah Secreta ...
in 2004, but her ticket with gubernatorial candidate
Nolan Karras was unsuccessful, garnering only 34% of the vote in the Republican primary.
After losing in the primary, Greene became Utah Republican vice chair. She became acting chair of the Utah Republican Party upon the resignation of Joe Cannon in November 2006. She was unanimously elected to serve as state party chair in February 2007 until the next convention in June 2007.
Enid Greene remarried in 2008 to then sheriff's deputy, and current judge, Scott J. Mickelsen. She was a delegate at the 2012 Republican National convention, served as chair of the 2016 Republican National Convention Site Selection Committee, and was appointed by RNC Chair
Reince Priebus
Reinhold Richard "Reince" Priebus ( ; born March 18, 1972) is an American politician, attorney, and naval officer who served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017 and as White House chief of staff during the first s ...
as chair of the 2016 Republican Convention Rules Committee.
Electoral history
Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1992, Eileen Koschak of the
Socialist Workers party received 650 votes.
See also
*
Women in the United States House of Representatives
Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, since 1917 following the election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Congress. In total, 396 women ...
Notes
References
* Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. ''The Almanac of American Politics, 1994''. Washington, D.C.:
National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...
, 1993.
* Michael Barone and Grant Ujifusa. ''The Almanac of American Politics, 1998''. Washington, D.C.:
National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...
, 1997.
* Michael Barone, Richard E. Cohen, and Grant Ujifusa. ''The Almanac of American Politics, 2002''. Washington, D.C.:
National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes ...
, 2001.
* Benson, Lee. ''Blind Trust: The True Story of Enid Greene & Joe Waldholtz'', Agreka Books (November 1997),
* Leigh Dethman
"Greene elected Utah GOP chief" ''
Deseret News
The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...
'', February 11, 2007
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene Mickelsen, Enid
1958 births
Latter Day Saints from California
Living people
J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni
University of Utah alumni
Utah lawyers
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Women in Utah politics
People from San Rafael, California
American women lawyers
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Utah
Republican National Committee members
Utah politicians convicted of crimes
20th-century American women politicians
Latter Day Saints from Utah
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives