‘Fox guarding the hen house’: GOP challengers to Utah’s top lawmaker want changes to the board that OK’d data center

Stephanie Hollist and Braden Hess, who are both challenging J. Stuart Adams in the Senate District 7 primary, have different views on how to change MIDA.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Senate District 7 Republican primary candidate Stephanie Hollist, center, answers questions alongside Senate President J. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, left, and Republican candidate Braden Hess during a Grow the Flow forum in Sunset on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

‘Fox guarding the hen house’: GOP challengers to Utah’s top lawmaker want changes to the board that OK’d data center

Stephanie Hollist and Braden Hess, who are both challenging J. Stuart Adams in the Senate District 7 primary, have different views on how to change MIDA.

RELATED STORIES

Lawsuit: MIDA and Box Elder County leaders allegedly violated residents’ rights in O’Leary data center plan

Kevin O’Leary to scale back Utah project — says it won’t be ‘the largest data center in the world’

Kevin O’Leary responds to Utah Senate president’s ‘outrageous’ demand to slash data center plan

Who serves on MIDA? Here’s a breakdown of each board member behind plans for a massive Box Elder County data center.

There’s a mysterious Utah agency behind that proposed huge data center. Here’s how MIDA works.

MOST VIEWED

1

Crews focus on protecting people, property as ‘catastrophic’ Widemouth 2 Fire prompts evacuations

2

She was set to get married. The night before, she used a tampon to set fire to the Utah church, police say.

3

‘Unbelievable’: Utah police didn’t buy ICE account of viral traffic stop, reports and body cam footage show

4

‘What do I grab?’: Here’s what these Utahns quickly packed as fires, floods forced them to flee — and what they wish they took

5

Viral Reckless Ben Lego videos skewer American Fork police. Here’s a look at 5 key moments.

Sponsored Story

Don’t let fraud and scams ground your summer vacation