Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Gov. Spencer Cox were discussing disruption — in the economy, in the tech sector, in politics — at a Salt Lake City policy summit Friday when disruption broke out in the audience.
Natalie Gochnour, director of the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, had noted that all three of the state’s research universities were represented on stage: through herself as a University of Utah Ute, through Cox, as a Utah State University Aggie, and by Sinema, who represented Arizona and is a Brigham Young University cougar.
“I get called that a lot,” Sinema joked, eliciting a chuckle from the audience.
Then a man wearing a suit stood up, declaring: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make.”
“I am actually having an affair with Kyrsten Sinema,” he continued.
It wasn’t immediately clear to the audience if it was a planned bit. He continued yelling as staff escorted him out of the room.
The panelists tried to get back on track. Then another man stood up, yelling nearly the same thing as the first, but he was much closer to the stage.
He was quickly grabbed and escorted out.
The outburst Friday morning came after the ex-wife of a member of Sinema’s former Senate security team sued her this week, alleging Sinema had seduced her former husband and broken up their marriage. Sinema served one term before leaving office last year.
Utah Highway Patrol troopers on Cox’s security team wrangled both of the men out of the room. Salt Lake City police then responded, and hotel management said they did not want the men on the property, according to a police department spokesperson.
Neither of the men were cited or arrested, although they could be if they return to the hotel, the spokesperson said.
After the first interruption, Sinema and Cox had started talking about policy and today’s strange political and economic moment. Sinema, a former Democrat turned independent, said the word she’d use to describe these times was “disruption” — meaning the usual rules don’t apply anymore, and that can be a good or bad thing.
“I promise I didn’t plan that,” she joked about the incident moments earlier.
(Paighten Harkins | The Salt Lake Tribune) Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, left, speaks at a policy summit at the Grand America Hotel on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, with Natalie Gochnour, director of the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, and Gov. Spencer Cox.
After the second interruption, the panel continued for about 30 more minutes without further disruptions.
The discussion, moderated by Gochnour, was the opening keynote of the annual Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit, hosted by the policy institute, as well as the Utah Chamber, Salt Lake Chamber.
This year’s theme was “Investing in Utah,” and speakers discussed a swath of concerning economic indicators, like slowing job growth, homeownership and birth rates, and a general sense of financial uncertainty and unease.
Still, Phil Dean, the policy institute’s chief economist, said he expected Utah’s economy to continue to outperform the U.S. economy in 2026.
During the panel, Gochnour asked how the business community gathered in the hotel’s ballroom could do more to contribute to the state’s future prosperity.
“I need you to get more involved. I’m going to be very blunt with you all,” Cox said. “You have abandoned us. You have. We do not see the business community on Capitol Hill.”
The governor said it wasn’t that way when he was first elected, more than a decade ago. If these leaders wanted change, or were unhappy with their current representation, Cox said, they need to find people to run for these positions.
“Some of you need to run for the Legislature. We need you. We desperately need you,” Cox said, followed by a round of brief applause.
Near the end of the panel discussion, Sinema was asked how Utah is different from other states and what advice she has for Utah going forward. She said Utahns should continue to rely on their “core set of values,” and what she described as their innate tolerance for others.
Utahns should hold on to that, she said, and stay engaged to elect leaders with collaborative mindsets.
Utah is a ”very, very special place," with values that she thinks sets the state and its people apart, despite “two just notable exceptions today,” Sinema joked.
“We’re pretty sure,” Cox quipped, “they came from somewhere else.”