Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson hoped the town hall he hosted Thursday evening would inspire new ideas to get young Utahns to the ballot box.

Instead, around 20 people attended the event to protest Davidson’s hiring of Kai Schwemmer — a Brigham Young University student and self-described “true conservative” with a history of posting antisemitic and white supremacist content to his social media accounts. Davidson said he hired Schwemmer as deputy clerk to help the county reach young voters.

The hiring also inspired dozens of women in elected offices and community leaders — including Provo Mayor Marsha Judkins and Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner, both Republicans — to send a letter to Davidson, saying “the leadership of Utah County’s election administration will remain unnecessarily compromised” until concerns about Schwemmer’s hiring are addressed.

By the end of the evening, Davidson agreed to write a formal job description for Schwemmer, including an end date for his time in the role, while Schwemmer agreed to propose safeguards for himself. Davidson said he would publish the new job description for Schwemmer by Monday, June 15, at 5 p.m.

No full-time deputy ahead of the primary

Davidson tapped Schwemmer, who has no elections management experience, after the previous deputy clerk departed for another job.

On social media, the 23-year-old college student shared a series of public statements drawing criticism — among them a post on X in November in which Schwemmer wrote: “Women generally do not have what it takes to endure the pressures of a public office.”

The post, which was in response to now-former Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene discussing death threats she’d received, continued, “Hey Marg, literally everyone on the internet with any clout gets death threats, you’re not a special case.”

He also described himself this March as “very much an anti-universal-suffrage guy.” He later walked back that characterization, telling ABC4 he was not advocating removing anyone’s right to vote, and that his comments were aimed at opposing expanded suffrage for felons and 16-year-olds.

Davidson’s team arranged the town hall to brainstorm ideas to help young voters successfully submit their ballots. In a news release advertising the event, the clerk’s office said voters between 18 and 25 years old were most impacted by having their ballots rejected and not fixed for technical issues — like signatures not matching the one on file with the clerk’s office and the one used on the ballot.

As the crowd’s focus continually returned to Schwemmer’s social media comments, the new deputy clerk told the crowd he’ll work to help all qualified Utahns vote.

“I hope that this can be an opportunity for me to show every single one of you that I’m committed to allowing every individual not only the opportunity to vote, but actually encouraging them to do so,” said Schwemmer, stressing that even if he had the ability to revoke anyone’s right to vote, he would not do so.

He continued: “Regardless of their race, sex, national origin, as long as they’re naturalized and can legally vote in the United States — in order to get those people to vote, that is a foundation [I want to lay] that will take effect hopefully as early as this general election."

Davidson defended the hire as a two-to-three-month appointment focused specifically on voter outreach, citing Schwemmer’s influencer career and ability to reach young adults. He has restricted Schwemmer from using his personal accounts for county purposes and insisted in the town hall that Schwemmer has been required to act in a nonpartisan manner.

A full-time deputy county clerk would be hired after Schwemmer returns to college, he said.

“I hope you can look at what we’re trying to accomplish rather than who’s doing the work... he is not going to affect anything that happens in the election department based on what he has said in the past,” Davidson told the crowd.

Davidson currently faces an intra-party challenge from Corey Astill in the upcoming GOP primary.

Astill said Friday, in choosing Schwemmer, Davidson picked a deputy that is not qualified for the job and that has a history of pretty abhorrent statements,” said Astill. “This is exactly why I’m running.”

On Thursday night, Davidson accepted the crowd’s demands to formally outline Schwemmer’s role, provide an end date to the position based on Schwemmer’s return to full-time classes in the fall and to consider renaming the position.

Attendees also wanted Schwemmer to give up use of his personal social media accounts while working in a public office — although he refused, pointing to his First Amendment rights. He did agree to propose a method by which he could begin to secure public trust while in his role, a proposal he committed to releasing by Tuesday, June 16, at 5 p.m.

‘Takes us back a century’

Brett Nielsen, from Utah Valley, said during the town hall, “Direct quotes from him have made it difficult for us to believe that he is going to be nonpartisan, or nonbiased, in any amount of influence he has.”

Powers Gardner, a former county clerk who helped organize the letter protesting Schwemmer’s appointment, said she was blindsided by it.

“I don’t think he realizes how much of our leadership is women and how competent those women are,” she told The Salt Lake Tribune in an interview ahead of the town hall. “We, as a society, regardless of political affiliation, need to reject the antiquated idea that women aren’t fit for leadership. Our communities and our societies are stronger when people of all backgrounds are represented in leadership roles.”

Powers Gardner said while she and other elected officials could not legally interfere with the hiring process, the letter — which says the appointment has “raised serious concerns among many women in our community” — represents a symbolic protest.

“The county clerk has a responsibility to appoint leaders who embody the core principles of election administration: accuracy, security, transparency, professionalism, impartiality and public confidence,” reads the letter. “Trust is built not only through secure procedures, but through leadership decisions that demonstrate respect for all citizens and a commitment to serving every voter without bias.”

The commissioner said she’d received dozens of messages from people in the county protesting Schwemmer’s hiring.

“It’s been primarily women, but the... range has been younger women, older women, younger men, older men, LGBTQ communities, and immigrants,” she said.

The signatories also include Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Orem Mayor Karen McCandless, Salt Lake County Council member Aimee Winder Newton and business leader and former Republican congressional candidate Ally Isom.

In an interview, Judkins questioned the hiring process. “What were the requirements for this job, and were they all met,” she asked. “I’m not saying anything against young candidates... but it’s difficult for me to imagine that Kai was the best candidate for this.”

She added: “To have someone in this day and age express the opinions that he has takes us back a century.”

Note to readers, 4:15 p.m. • This story has been updated to include a comment from Corey Astill.