With the current Attorney General, Sean Reyes, not running for re-election, there are 4 Republican candidates hoping to secure the party nomination.
Frank Mylar – Qualified at convention – https://frankmylar4ag.com/
Frank has practiced law for over 36 years. He was born in Idaho but has lived in Utah his whole married life of over 36 years. All 5 of his kids have graduated college. Frank has a wide variety of experience from representing airlines, defending schools, and even the prison system and law enforcement at all levels. He also represented a manufacturer in New York and farmers in Michigan and has argued before the Utah Supreme Court and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on numerous occasions.
When asked what books he is currently reading or has recently read, he listed –
When Home Hurts: A Guide for Responding Wisely to Domestic Abuse in Your Church by Jeremy Pierre
America’s Real War by Rabbi Daniel Lapin.
Frank worked for the Utah State Attorney General’s office from 1988 to 2000, sometimes supervising other attorneys and working in every major general area of the office. He then started his own law firm, Mylar Law, P.C. There he has defended sheriffs from civil rights lawsuits, along with other county and city law enforcement. He has handled over 50 trials, appeals, and represented family law clients. In family law he worked mostly representing abused women but also some men. He works with his wife using a team approach for marriage counseling and reconciliation. They are Certified Christian Conciliators that use biblical principles to resolve conflicts.
Frank believes in giving back and helps women get protective orders for free. He asks what other candidates have done for the pro-life and other causes. Frank has defended pro-life counselors from criminal prosecution, given free legal advice to Utah pro-life organizations, and has helped convince women to not have abortions. He filed a friend of the court brief to defend Utah’s recent abortion laws. Frank also won a 5-0 Utah Supreme Court decision, all judges agreeing, case for Utah property rights and helped vindicate a couple who was denied their foster care license because he had a concealed carry license.
Frank has an MBA and believes in the Peter Drucker management method of wandering around and visiting the attorneys in the trenches. He will actively manage the attorneys and not just be a policy figurehead as the Attorney General often is. Frank said that if somebody donates to your campaign and there is a conflict of interest, you give back the donation or have somebody else handle it. You need to focus on what the office is supposed to do. He wants to restore confidence to the office and isn’t going to run for another.
Frank is also an Honor Guard Attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom (See adflegal.org) which is the country’s premier protector of constitutional rights. The other candidates will all say they agree with the platform and protecting constitutional rights, but what have they really done, on their own, without getting paid. Frank has been in the trenches protecting constitutional rights for years and that is why you can trust him to do so as your next Attorney General.
Rachel Terry – Qualified at convention – https://www.rachelforutah.com/
Rachel Terry went to USU for her undergrad and BYU for law school. She has worked on many lawsuits including one for the Space Dynamics Lab that took 10 years to resolve. Rachel handled a sexual assault case against USU that involved 4 girls that had been assaulted by a football player. She represented the U of U in the McCluskey murder case.
When asked what books she is currently reading or has recently read Rachel listed
The US Constitution through History by Eric Berger
Boys in the Boat by Daniel Brown (with her kids)
She worked for Fabian law firm for 8 years and the Attorney General’s office for 7, where she enjoyed litigating. Rachel was the Deputy Director of the League of Cities and Towns and is currently the Director of Utah Division of Risk Management, the insurance arm of the state. She said they insure over $50 billion in assets. Their budget is increasing from $100 million to $200 million as the state adds more to what it self insures. They cover both property and liability. One example she gave is a freezer full of eyeballs, used for research, went out and had to be replaced. This also covers car accidents, floods, and even sexual assaults on University campuses.
Rachel has seen the power that a good attorney has on the state and said she has the passion and skills to drive that forward. She loves the office, the people in the office, and the people they represent. It is a hard race and a hard job and attracts big personalities. Rachel said the job needs more accountability to the people and not for the Attorney General to sit apart. She wants to not only make her public calendar visible, but also have town halls to better work with the people and stay grounded. Rachel said that isn’t attracted to shining things and doesn’t need external validation. She has to come home and clean out the litter box and drive kids to practice. Her kids help keep her grounded by treating her like a normal person.
Rachel said that she is the first Republican woman to ever run for the office. Her main focus will be on federal overreach, including public lands. The state is no longer energy independent. The Department of Education changes and evolves policies without ever being accountable to the public. Illegal immigration is having a huge impact on Millard County and it is the cartels that are running the border.
Big tech is also an issue. The legislation limiting their access to kids has been amended based on challenges in other states but will still require defending. Affinity fraud is also a huge issue. She mentioned how a solar panel company sold $85,000 of solar panels to an elderly person in a dilapidated home. She is in it for the work and is only running through the caucus / convention method.
Derek Brown – Qualified through signatures – https://www.derekforutah.com/
Derek went to BYU for his undergrad and Pepperdine Law for law school, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Pepperdine law review. He later worked for two large law firms in DC and also clerked for a year for the 3rd circuit Court of Appeals. He has also worked for 3 senators, most recently for Senator Mike Lee. Derek was also a state representative for 3 years, leaving to work for Senator Lee. For the last 6 years he has run his own law firm.
When asked what books he is currently reading or has recently read, Derek listed –
At-One-Ment – Thomas McConkie
A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law – Antonin Scalia
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones – James Clear
Derek became the party chair from 2019 – 2021, dealing with over $300k of the debt from the SB54 lawsuit and fines from the FEC. After he got elected, he found that the telephones were disconnected because the party hadn’t paid their bills. When they started paying bills, more invoices came in. Soon after covid struck, forcing things to move online. In only 2 ½ months they were able to create an online convention and use a blockchain based system for voting. Also during his time as chair, the party won a super majority on the Salt Lake County Council and won back the 4th congressional seat.
While clerking for the 3rd circuit, Derek was able to learn what worked and what didn’t. The state needs to pick the right cases to appeal. He has also represented Meta, where he used his legal background to come up with constitutional solutions. He said that he worked at the intersection of technology, the Constitution, and psychology. Derek worked with legislators to give parents tools to help monitor social media usage, keeping in mind that kids also have a right to self expression. Meta is no longer one of his clients. He said that he is the one person in the race who knows exactly how and where to push back against social media companies.
He said we need to push back on federal overreach. What happens is laws are watered down so they pass but are full of blank spaces that are later filled in by mid level bureaucrats. He mentioned how in Idaho, some have used a federal law granting people access to emergency care to allow abortion even after the state had a trigger law banning it. 93% of one county is owned by the federal government and they block access to resources and shut down certain roads. The state lost the district suit over bears ears and it is now being appealed to the 10th circuit. Derek said that the Antiquities Act is the problem and after President Obama designated a massive amount of land to it, President Trump shrunk it considerably, and then President Biden restored it.
Derek wants to maintain a level of trust and transparency in the office and keep the 270 attorneys working hard. It is critical to stay grounded and in touch with the elected officials and the people in the office. He is running for what he thinks he can do for the office, make it run effectively and with integrity. He welcomes any feedback from a current audit on what needs to improve. Derek is concerned about salaries as you need to be able to compete with the private sector.
Derek said that you are beholden to the rule of law and the Attorney General needs to have a good understanding of the rule of law. You need to understand how government works and that this is a political environment. Ultimately, this is a leadership position though.
Trent Christensen – Lost at convention – https://trentchristensen.com/
Trent grew up in Utah and did his undergrad and law school at BYU. He was a complex business litigator back east that defended companies sued by government agencies. Trent returned to Utah in 2015 and was a CEO of a venture capital firm. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of an AI company, OmniTeq, that works with the military and government.
Trent wants to bring change and drain the Salt Lake swamp. He said that there is a lot of power around lobbyists and that we need more transparency around elections. The Attorney General has authority to run investigations and he wants to point that towards elections. He wants to look at voting machines in detail and also the ballots. He believes that after that, the people will have confidence.
Trent said that regulatory agencies are overseen by the Attorney General and that he has never seen a full audit of these agencies. He also said that people have told him that they want to participate in the process. The Attorney General can’t pass laws so you need to work with the legislature. Utah is one of the few states that lets lobbyists run campaigns. Trent wants to do an audit to see how much influence lobbyists have with regulatory agencies.
He disagrees that the AG should be appointed and feels the current Attorney General has dipped his toes where they don’t belong.
Trent wants to hire an outside company to audit the state elections. He is concerned that the voter rolls aren’t very clean and said that he still gets ballots for the last three residents at his address. He has even taken them to the county clerk. Trent said that there are a lot of variations between how counties handle elections and they should be similar. He said that he could get donations to pay for the audit and cost isn’t a concern and that outside money would have no influence on who does the audit. He said we may need to go back to voting in person on election day.
Trent also wants to audit DCFS. He said 700 parents have their parental rights terminated each year. He wants to take a closer look. In another state he helped somebody who had their kids taken and he fought and beat “the state”. He said he is there to enforce the people’s rights, not the state’s agenda. He wants to change the incentive structure for prosecutors to not just win cases.
Trent has endorsed Former President Trump and is 100% committed to the caucus system and describes himself and an “America First” candidate. He said the person running needs both leadership and experience.
UPDATE
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2024/03/12/republican-attorney-general/ Trent is not admitted to practice law in Utah, even though he signed that he was when he filed for office. The Lt Governor’s office is looking into this.
The author has also seen evidence that Trent plagiarized in 2005 while writing the BYU law review. Trent did not respond to a request for comment. If he does, the author will update the article.