This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gov. Gary Herbert
Education • Attended Brigham Young University
Profile • Herbert was elected as lieutenant governor under Gov. Jon Huntsman in 2004 and 2008 and came to office in August 2009, when Huntsman became U.S. ambassador to China. He was elected governor in 2010. His relationship with the Republican-dominated Legislature has not always been smooth. Herbert has vetoed seven bills in the past two years and twice had his veto overridden last year.
Senate President Michael Waddoups
Education • B.S., Business Management, Brigham Young University; CPM, Institute of Real Estate Management
Occupation • Former property manager
Profile • Waddoups, who has been in the state Legislature since 1987, is entering his final session as a lawmaker, planning to retire at the end of the year. His wife, Anna Kay, was badly injured by a drunken driver in 2001 and he has resisted more lenient liquor laws. He has also opposed new government spending.
House Speaker Becky Lockhart
Education • B.S., Brigham Young University, Nursing
Occupation • Homemaker
Profile • Delegates chose Lockhart to fill a vacant seat in 1998, but then-Gov. Mike Leavitt refused to appoint her. However, she won the election later that year. Lockhart is in her first term as speaker, upsetting former Speaker David Clark by one vote. In her first year, divisions have been exposed in the House GOP caucus testing her leadership.
Senate Minority Leader Ross Romero
Education • B.S., University of Utah; J.D., University of Michigan
Occupation • Zions Bank
Profile • Romero was elected to the House in 2004 and the Senate two years later. He is now running for Salt Lake County Mayor, but is being challenged by fellow Democratic Sen. Ben McAdams in a contest that has bitterly divided the six-member caucus.
House Minority Leader David Litvack
Education • B.S., Westminster College, Psychology/Sociology; M.A., University of Chicago, Social Sciences
Occupation • Director of the Criminal Justice Advisory Council in the Salt Lake County Mayor's Office
Profile • First elected in 2000, he is in his fourth year as head of the Democratic Caucus. Litvack is known for a cooperation more than confrontation with the Republican majority in trying to advance the minority-party agenda, which is tough when Democrats are outnumbered by three-to-one.
— Robert Gehrke