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Mike Petersen (Utah)

From Ballotpedia
Mike Petersen
Candidate, Utah House of Representatives District 2
Utah House of Representatives District 2
Tenure
2023 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
3
Predecessor:Jefferson Moss (R)
Prior offices:
Utah House of Representatives District 3
Years in office: 2021 - 2023
Predecessor:Val Potter (R)
Successor:Dan Johnson (R)
Compensation
Base salary
$301/legislative day
Per diem
Per diem is reimbursed to state legislators when they submit receipts or turn in expense reports.
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2024
Next convention
April 11, 2026
Education
Bachelor's
Brigham Young University
Ph.D
Utah State University
Graduate
Brigham Young University
Personal
Birthplace
Ogden, UT
Religion
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Profession
Business owner
Contact

Mike Petersen (Republican Party) is a member of theUtah House of Representatives, representingDistrict 2. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Petersen (Republican Party) is running for re-election to theUtah House of Representatives to representDistrict 2. He declared candidacy for the Republican convention scheduled onApril 11, 2026.[source]

Biography

Mike Petersen was born inOgden, Utah.[1] Petersen earned a B.S. in psychology and M.Ed. in counseling psychology from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in instructional technology from Utah State University.[2] His career experience includes working as an instructional designer, as a consultant, and owning a business.[1][2]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Petersen was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Petersen was assigned to the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2026

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Barbara Haggerty (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on June 23, 2026.

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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Barbara Haggerty (D) is running in the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on April 25, 2026.

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There are noincumbents in this race.

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Republican convention

Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

IncumbentMike Petersen (R) is running in the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on April 11, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen

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Incumbents arebolded and underlined.

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Endorsements

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2024

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 2

IncumbentMike Petersen defeatedTom Liljegren in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen (R)
 
74.0
 
14,303
Image of Tom Liljegren
Tom Liljegren (D) Candidate Connection
 
26.0
 
5,032

Ballotpedia Logo

Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 19,335
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled.Tom Liljegren advanced from the Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2

IncumbentMike Petersen defeatedMike Monson in the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on June 25, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen
 
58.8
 
3,765
Image of Mike Monson
Mike Monson Candidate Connection
 
41.2
 
2,640

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Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 6,405
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Tom Liljegren advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on March 30, 2024.

Candidate
✔
Image of Tom Liljegren
Tom Liljegren (D) Candidate Connection

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican convention

Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

IncumbentMike Petersen advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on April 13, 2024.

Candidate
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen (R)

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Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Petersen in this election.

Pledges

Petersen signed the following pledges.

  • U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 2

IncumbentMike Petersen defeatedHolly Gunther in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen (R)
 
72.7
 
10,238
Image of Holly Gunther
Holly Gunther (D)
 
27.3
 
3,838

Ballotpedia Logo

Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 14,076
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled.Holly Gunther advanced from the Democratic primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2

IncumbentMike Petersen defeatedVal Potter in the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen
 
54.0
 
3,291
Image of Val Potter
Val Potter
 
46.0
 
2,799

Ballotpedia Logo

Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 6,090
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

Holly Gunther advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on March 26, 2022.

Candidate
✔
Image of Holly Gunther
Holly Gunther (D)

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican convention

Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2

IncumbentMike Petersen andVal Potter advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 2 on March 26, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen (R)
 
63.1
 
118
✔
Image of Val Potter
Val Potter (R)
 
36.9
 
69

Ballotpedia Logo

Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 187
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Utah House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Utah House of Representatives District 3

Mike Petersen defeatedHolly Gunther in the general election for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen (R) Candidate Connection
 
73.7
 
15,197
Image of Holly Gunther
Holly Gunther (D)
 
26.3
 
5,415

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 20,612
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 3

Mike Petersen defeated incumbentVal Potter in the Republican primary for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on June 30, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen Candidate Connection
 
55.6
 
4,768
Image of Val Potter
Val Potter
 
44.4
 
3,802

Ballotpedia Logo

Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 8,570
Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic convention

Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 3

Holly Gunther advanced from the Democratic convention for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on April 25, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Image of Holly Gunther
Holly Gunther (D)

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican convention

Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 3

Mike Petersen advanced from the Republican convention for Utah House of Representatives District 3 on April 25, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Image of Mike Petersen
Mike Petersen (R) Candidate Connection

Ballotpedia Logo

There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Mike Petersen has not yet completedBallotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.If you are Mike Petersen,click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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2024

Mike Petersen did not completeBallotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Mike Petersen did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

Mike Petersen completedBallotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Petersen's responses.

Expand all |Collapse all

I believe our state legislature is out of touch and that they don't listen to their constituents as they should. They don't believe we are as smart as they are. They don't believe we need to be listened to. We need new representation who will listen to us. I will restore your voice!

I am running as a conservative Republican challenging the incumbent who has served in local and state government for nearly 30 years. I plan to secure the Republican nomination through the caucus-convention system, and I look forward to meeting the voters of House District 3 to share my vision of lower taxes, smaller government, and restoring their voice.

Our traditional beliefs in self-reliance, small and accountable government, property rights, along with our belief that the family is the fundamental unit of society are the very reasons Utah is among the fastest growing states in the nation. We are a beacon for the entire country because of our beliefs.

We must remain true to our beliefs. We cannot have another debacle like the 2019 Tax Reform Bill. We need representation that listens to "we the people." We need to cut wasteful spending. We need to slow the growth of the state budget. The Governor's proposed 2020 budget is $20 billion dollars. Just 5 years ago we were at $15 billion dollars. We need representation that doesn't ignore us or talk down to us. We didn't sign the referendum because we didn't understand it. We signed because we knew it was wrong. We need new representation.
I believe we need to follow the governing principles included in the U.S. Constitution and the Republican Party Platform.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia LogoNote: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Mike Petersen campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024Utah House of Representatives District 2Won general$32,572 $-25,293
2022Utah House of Representatives District 2Won general$44,289 $-30,229
2020Utah House of Representatives District 3Won general$25,516 N/A**
Grand total$102,377 $-55,522
Sources:OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Utah

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Utah scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.


2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].   

In 2024, theUtah State Legislature was in session from January 16 to March 1.

Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy.
Legislators are scored based on the organization's mission of "promoting the principles of limited government, constitution, representative government, participatory republic, free market economy, family, and separation of powers."
Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise."
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to arts and the humanities.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.


2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].   

In 2023, theUtah State Legislature was in session from January 17 to March 3.

Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy.
Legislators are scored based on the organization's mission of "promoting the principles of limited government, constitution, representative government, participatory republic, free market economy, family, and separation of powers."
Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise."
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to arts and the humanities.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.


2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].   

In 2022, theUtah State Legislature was in session from January 18 to March 4.

Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy.
Legislators are scored based on the organization's mission of "promoting the principles of limited government, constitution, representative government, participatory republic, free market economy, family, and separation of powers."
Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise."
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to arts and the humanities.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.


2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].   

In 2021, theUtah State Legislature was in session from January 19 to March 5.

Legislators are scored based on the organization's mission of "promoting the principles of limited government, constitution, representative government, participatory republic, free market economy, family, and separation of powers."
Legislators are scored on their votes on bills the organization chose to evaluate.
Legislators are scored based on their votes in relation to the organization's "mission to defend individual liberty, private property and free enterprise."
Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to education.
Legislators are scored based on their votes on tax related legislation.







See also


External links

Officeholder

Utah House of Representatives District 2

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    • Footnotes

    1. ↑1.01.1Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 26, 2020
    2. ↑2.02.1Utah House of Representatives, "Rep. Petersen, Michael J.," accessed March 31, 2021

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Jefferson Moss (R)    		Utah House of Representatives District 2
    2023-Present    		Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    Val Potter (R)    		Utah House of Representatives District 3
    2021-2023    		Succeeded by
    Dan Johnson (R)


    Current members of theUtah House of Representatives
    Leadership
    Speaker of the House:Mike Schultz
    Majority Leader:Casey Snider
    Minority Leader:Angela Romero
    Representatives
    District 1
    District 2
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    Republican Party (61)
    Democratic Party (14)


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