Stephen Eric Sandstrom (born 1964) is a licensed architect, a former politician and was 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 ...

from 2007 through 2012. Prior to serving in the Utah Legislature, he was a member of the Orem City Council from 1994 through 2006. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, but has largely worked in architecture and is a 4th generation architect.

Early life

Sandstorm spent his childhood in a politically active home. As a boy Stephen once rode his bicycle into Provo, where he came across campaign literature and decided to help distribute this literature. A short time later, he was awarded the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth partici ...

Eagle scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

award. As a young man he heard a

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

speak, which influenced his desire to join the military. At 17 he earned his pilot's licence and at age 19 he left to serve a

Latter-Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

. After his Mission, he joined the military.

Career

He started working for his father's architectural firm at a young age and also pursued his dream of being a pilot, receiving the license aged 17. He also became involved in politics. Later he became a part of the

Orem Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. He is a member of the Utah house of representatives. As a Utah representative, Stephen was a strong proponent of

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

He also passed significant legislation to further 2nd Amendment Rights. He built a record of fighting against gambling,

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...

, and restriction to use of public lands. In 2010, Sandstrom announced that he was drafting immigration legislation similar to Arizona's controversial immigration law,

SB 1070 The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and commonly referred to as Arizona SB 1070) is a 2010 legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that was the broadest and strictest an ...

. He later reversed his position on unauthorized immigration and called for the passage of the

DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States ...

Personal life

He is married to Jennie Sandstrom (1990) and they have four children and two grandchildren.

Congressional campaign

He decided to leave his seat in the Utah Legislature in 2012 and run for Congress in the newly created 4th Congressional District. On April 21, 2012, at the Utah Republican Convention, Sandstrom was defeated by

Mia Love Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 19 ...

as nominee to run for Utah's 4th District congressional seat. After spending nearly 18 years in political office, he officially retired from politics and now concentrates his efforts on his architectural career and pursuing his mountain climbing ambitions and spending time in the outdoors.

References

External links

* http://www.sandstromarchitecture.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandstrom, Stephen 1964 births American Latter Day Saints Brigham Young University alumni Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives Living people Politicians from Orem, Utah 21st-century American politicians