And what have you done to work on resolving the issues around the Great Salt Lake?

So I've been in the state Senate for four years, and I believe every single year I ran a bill to try to do something and to try to at least generate conversation.

The first year I was in the legislature, which would have been 2023, I introduced a resolution to set a target elevation for the Great Salt Lake, 4,198 feet, which is like the lowest elevation healthy level for the elevation, for the lake.

So that was, that generated a lot of conversation.

I think that kind of got pulled into legislation that ended up passing in future years because we kind of have some like triggers around salinity levels and other things that have come in since then.

Probably the other big, you know, most, most notorious bill I ran was one earlier this year in 2026 session where um which would have uh basically banned the bear river development um and it would have what else would it have done i'm trying to think of that bill it would have reallocated millions of dollars uh for the great salt lake to work on things like water leasing and um and smarter agricultural policies that could have gotten so much water delay so really uh these are these are big policies that like We need a lot of people getting behind in subsequent years to actually make them pass.

And so they generated conversation.

What is your favorite memory of the Great Salt Lake?

And yet, because you don't have, because you're suffering in the minority of a super majority, there's really like, where's the oversight here? Like where's the ability to be able to like really drill down on whether this is appropriate or not?

Look, that's the role I've tried to play as a state senator.

I think it's so important to have people sitting in those committee rooms on the Senate floor where I've been silenced for speaking out about these sorts of things in the past.

I've been called a punk before by our attorney general here for taking him on.

And frankly, I don't see Democrats doing that.

It's frustrating because I think we see people compromising on their values to try and get what I would mostly consider to be pretty small pieces of legislation passed with a stamp of approval from the Republicans.

I want to see opposition because when we see them get back, when we see the Republicans get backed into a corner and held accountable, they do make mistakes.

Is that part of the reason why you want to go to DC? You want to take everything you've learned and the experience you've had in the state legislature in Utah and go to DC and say, look, this is not the way we do things in Utah, and this is what we really need?

Mm

... our courts here in Utah have been incredible.

Our, our judges have s- been steadfast, and I think doing the right thing, um, and, and trying to, you know, push back and use the powers that they have to, to slow down some of the bad decisions being made by the Republican super majority.

The Republicans have gone as far as spreading salacious details about one of the Supreme Court justices here in Utah, and she resigned recently because of these allegations that were made.

Um, and you know, there, there's nothing to say that she was doing anything unethical on the court, that any of her decisions were influenced by, um, you know, I think extra, uh, extra procedural anything.

Uh, and so that's, that's how far they're willing to go, is to discredit our courts that they appointed, right? These are, these are all judges that were basically, you know, I think in large part confirmed unanimously by Republicans, appointed by Republicans, uh, and they make a decision on something like redistricting or abortion, um, that the Republicans don't like, and they will go after them, and, and publicly, and try to discredit them and get them out of that seat.

Um, and so that's... it's unacceptable, and it's been so unfortunate to see.

Mm.

You, you know everything that has been happening, and we, we'd love to have your thoughts.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm, I'm just tuned in.

I think, uh, what we've seen happen with Don is just so disappointing, and, uh, it's so frustrating that journalists are being attacked in this country for just trying to, uh, get the message out.

That's, that's, uh, something we've seen all around, that the Trump administration is really cracking down on dissenting speech, and, uh, it's something we need to stand up for and fight back against.

In what ways has that informed what you've been doing in your campaign? Uh, and what kind of calls to action do you think we need the voting population, the electorate, to, to have in this hour?

Yeah, I think it, it, it really turns candidates, in a lot of ways, into messengers ourselves.

I think it's so important for people to have trusted voices and to have, uh, elected officials who are...

It's gotta just be cruelty and digging your heels in on, on a bunch of bullshit to say, you know, "Ah, just like the oi- the oil money that's coming in." It's, there's plenty of money in the renewables, so how do you, uh, combat that as a congressman?

Yeah, so there's a lot of facets to this.

I think one of the main i- issues is that we see, again, shareholders are benefiting but not ratepayers, so there's this big distinction about who pays for things.

You know, a lot of this happens at the state level, you know, as far as the, the prices and the, who approves prices for utilities generally happens at the Public Service Commissions in the state, but there are certainly federal opportunities as well to work on, uh, things like insurance, you know, which has really driven the costs up.

Utah is collecting, I think it's about a billion dollars, uh, after legislation we passed here, to basically give to Rocky Mountain Power to insure against, uh, fire, you know, wildfires and that sort of thing caused by their equipment.

And so I would m- much rather see that paid for by, at least in part, by shareholders rather than ratepayers, which, you know, ratepayers, when I say that, that means everyday customers like you and me.... and, and the return on equity can be a lot lower.

That's why Warren Buffett likes to invest in utilities is because he gets a basically a guaranteed like 10% or so.

Let's talk about your education plan.

Am I correct on that?

My philosophy has been like, look, I represent a district that is 75% or so progressive.

You know, I won with a large majority of the vote.

People asked for someone who was going to stand up on things like workers' rights and, you know, Passing a higher minimum wage because we still have the 725 federal minimum wage here in Utah, which is crazy.

Medicare for all.

I mean, just like common sense stuff that like would help people's lives.

And if you are focused on compromising to get, you know, minor legislation across the board and there are Democrats in Utah, we'll take offense to that.

Disagree.

Does that make sense to you?

Totally.

I think, yeah, there's a whole lot of problems with the way that corporate America is able to dictate the terms in so many of these places.

I mean, that's why I've been a long-term supporter of organized labor, because they have the power to come together and negotiate.

And we've had some real problems with the legislature in Utah trying to take some of those Powers away.

So I think whether it's paid time off, sick leave, paid family leave, we don't even have I think the state only has a maybe it's a six week policy in Utah, but there's no requirement for private industry to even provide that.

One policy I'm going to propose this year in the legislative session actually is pay transparency so that at least companies.

I don't necessarily disagree.