Paul Ray is an American businessman, politician, and former law enforcement officer who served as a member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district con ...

. A member of the Republican Party, Ray represented the 13th district covering a portion of

Davis County, Utah Davis County is a county in northern Utah, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 306,479, making it Utah's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Farmington, and its largest city is Layton. Davis County ...

Early life and education

Ray was born in

Peru, Indiana Peru is a city in, and the county seat of, Miami County, Indiana, United States. It is north of Indianapolis. The population was 11,417 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous city in Miami County. Peru is located along the Wabash Riv ...

. He graduated from Peru High School in 1985 and took medicine courses at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest camp ...

from 1985 to 1988.

Career

Ray served as a police officer from 1987 to 1988 and also as the branch manager of a bank from 1988 to 1995. He works as the CEO for the Northern Wasatch Home Builders Association.

Politics

Ray was a candidate for the

in 1998 but was not elected. He joined the Utah House in 2001 and served in that position until 2003. He ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 2002. He was elected on November 2, 2004, and last elected in 2014. Ray championed a 2019 law that prevents cities from setting up citizen review boards to oversee local police departments. In 2021, Ray defended a gerrymandered redistricting map proposal that was heavily tilted in favor of Republicans. The map broke up Utah's liberal urban areas, thus benefiting Republicans. Ray defended the proposed boundaries as "a good balance of urban-rural mix." Ray resigned as a representative on December 15, 2021 to take a new role as Legislative Affairs with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. He was replaced by Karen Peterson during a special election of the Davis County Republican Party.

Personal life

Ray lives in Clinton, Utah, with his wife, Julie, and their four children. On December 28, 2021, Ray was hospitalized for a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

and underwent surgery to alleviate bleeding in the brain.

References

External links

Official page
at 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 li ...

Paul Ray's Official Campaign Web Site
*Paul Ray on Project Vote Smart

*Paul Ray's Campaign Website

*Paul Ray on Ballot Pedia

*Utah State Legislatur
biography pages: Paul Ray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Paul 1966 births Living people 21st-century American legislators 21st-century Utah politicians Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives People from Peru, Indiana Indiana University Bloomington alumni Western Governors University alumni People from Clearfield, Utah