Jenny Wilson (born November 1, 1965) is an American politician currently serving as the mayor of

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 city is Salt Lake City, the List of capitals in th ...

. In September 2007, she was a primary candidate for mayor of

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 ...

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 ...

. In 2016, she was Utah's national committeewoman for the Democratic Party. She is the daughter of Ted Wilson, a former mayor of Salt Lake City. Wilson was the Democratic nominee in the 2018 Utah Senate race, running against Republican nominee

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

. After her election defeat, she was appointed to replace

Ben McAdams Benjamin Michael McAdams (born December 5, 1974) is an American politician and attorney who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from Utah's 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. During that time, he w ...

as Salt Lake County Mayor, taking the oath of office in January 2019. She was elected to that position for a full four-year term in the 2020 general election.

Early career

Wilson's background is as a leadership, public relations and media consultant. She has held positions in administration, fundraising and project management for the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

and

Film Festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

, the Sundance Group, the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, Voices for Utah Children, and 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 ...

’s John A. Moran Eye Center. In 1991, she served at the federal level as assistant press secretary to U.S. Rep.

Les AuCoin Walter Leslie AuCoin ( ; born October 21, 1942) is an American politician. In 1974 he became the first person from the Democratic Party to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from , since it was formed in 1892. The seat has been he ...

(D-OR) and from 1992–1996 as chief of staff to U.S. Rep.

Bill Orton William Orton (September 22, 1948 – April 18, 2009) was an American Democratic politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Utah from 1991 to 1997. Biography Early life and education Born in North Ogd ...

(D-UT). She assisted the Democratic Caucus of the

Utah State Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term ...

in 1998.

Salt Lake County Council

Wilson served two non-consecutive terms on the Salt Lake County Council, once from 2005 to 2011, and again from 2014 to 2019. On the Council, Wilson supported policy initiatives for ethics reform and open space preservation, and an initiative that provides health benefits to the partners of LGBT county employees. She served as a member of the Salt Lake County Council of Governments and as a board member of the Unified Fire Authority. She also co-founded the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

Commission. Wilson's board and committee assignments included the Sundance Institute Utah Advisory Board,

Utah Museum of Fine Arts The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is a state and university art museum located in downtown Salt Lake City on the University of Utah campus. Housed in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building near Rice-Eccles Stadium, the museum holds a permane ...

, Discovery Gateway: Utah Children’s Museum, and Salt Lake Community Action.

2018 U.S. Senate campaign

In July 2017, Wilson announced her intention to run in 2018 for the U.S. Senate against

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senat ...

. In January 2018, Hatch announced he would retire at the end of his seventh term, leaving the seat open. Wilson raised nearly $140,000 in the second-quarter fundraising period. The Republican Party eventually selected 2012 presidential nominee

to run against Wilson to succeed Hatch. Wilson lost the election on November 6, 2018, to Romney by 336,674 votes. Wilson had raised and spent just under $1 million on her campaign, compared to Romney's $5 million.

Mayor of Salt Lake County

Selection and elections

On January 25, 2019, Salt Lake County Democratic central committee members selected Wilson to serve the remainder of the mayoral term of

, who won election to Congress in the 2018 midterms and resigned to assume his congressional seat. She was sworn in on January 29, 2019 at the Salt Lake County Government Center. In 2020, Wilson was re-elected to a full term as County Mayor, defeating Republican Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs by 37,463 votes. In 2024 She was re-elected to a second full term, defeating Republican Erin Rider by 48,902 votes.

Tenure

Wilson has announced plans to form a new Office of Environmental Services in the county government to focus on improving air quality. Wilson has filed comments with the Utah state Supreme Court asking for

DACA Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigration status after having entered the cou ...

recipients (known as "Dreamers") to practice law in Utah.

Personal life

Raised in Salt Lake City, one of five children, Wilson is the daughter of Ted Wilson, mayor of Salt Lake City from 1976–1985, and Kathy Wilson, an artist and small business owner. She graduated from East High School in 1983 and the

in 1988, and received a Masters in Public Administration from the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

in 1998. In 2013, she produced and directed a documentary film, ''The Grand Rescue'', about a dramatic three-day rescue by park rangers, one of whom was her father, on the

North Face North face or Northface or The North Face may refer to: * North face (Eiger), in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland * North Face (Everest), in Himalaya, usually traversed ascending Everest from the north * North face (Fairview Dome), a climbing route i ...

of the

Grand Teton Grand Teton is the highest mountain of the Teton Range in Grand Teton National Park at in Northwest Wyoming. Below its north face is Teton Glacier. The mountain is a classic destination in American mountaineering via the Owen-Spalding rout ...

. Wilson and her husband, Trell Rohovit, have two children.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jenny 1965 births 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians American Latter Day Saints Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people Mayors of Salt Lake County, Utah Politicians from Salt Lake City University of Utah alumni Utah city council members Utah Democrats Women city councillors in Utah Women in Utah politics Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections Women mayors of places in Utah 20th-century Utah politicians