Ahead of GOP primary, AG candidates talk about Trump verdict and more

The Utah Republican primary election is just around the corner and there are three GOP candidates vying to become the candidate for Utah attorney general.

Derek Brown, Frank Mylar and Rachel Terry will be the three names you’ll see on the Republican primary ballot. The winner of the primary will square off against Rudy J. Bautista (Democrat), Michelle Quist (United Utah), Andrew McCullough (Libertarian) and Austin Hepworth (unaffiliated).

Leading up to the primary election, candidates have buzzed around the state and spoken to voters about key issues in the state like social media litigation, accountability to the public lands. As the election has gone on, some Republican candidates have put out messaging about the southern border, fentanyl and Title IX.

The Deseret News asked these Republican candidates the same questions about their positions on these issues they’ve been messaging on as well as what they thought about the Trump verdict. Here’s some bios for each candidate as well as their responses.

Who’s who?

Derek Brown is the former chairman of the Utah Republican Party who has practiced law with two large, nationally recognized firms. He served in the Utah House of Representatives before becoming Sen. Mike Lee’s deputy chief of staff and he also served as legal counsel to former Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch. He clerked with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Gov. Spencer Cox and Lee have endorsed Brown. Brown has his degree from Pepperdine School of Law.

Frank Mylar spent over a decade working in the attorney general’s office and now runs his own firm focusing on constitutional and government litigation as well as civil rights cases. He’s litigated civil rights cases in both state and federal courts. He was the director of legal affairs for the Utah Department of Corrections and is an Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney. Tami Hirsch, Moms for America Action, and Michael Farris, former CEO and president of Alliance Defending Freedom, have endorsed Mylar. Mylar went to Seattle University for law school.

Rachel Terry currently serves as the director of the Utah Division of State Risk Management. She previously was the deputy director for the Utah League of Cities and Towns and she has also worked at the Utah Attorney General’s Office on civil rights cases — she has represented school districts and universities. She also worked at the firm Fabian & Clendenin on cases involving mining and banking. The Utah Fraternal Order of Police and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have endorsed her. Terry went to Brigham Young University for law school.

Trump verdict

Former president Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts — a historic conviction. The Deseret News asked the candidates what they thought of the conviction.

Brown: “I believe that we have a long and very divisive year ahead of us, and unfortunately, the recent verdict in New York only threatens to exacerbate that. Both President Biden and President Trump are likely to be our parties’ respective nominees, and thus only a handful of Americans in a few swing states are likely to be the decision maker in who will be the next President of the United States,” said Brown. “I have spent my entire campaign outlining my priorities if I am Utah’s next Attorney General. These include protecting the most vulnerable among us, protecting our children, securing the border, and pushing back against federal government overreach.”

Brown added that he will be committed to those ideals regardless of who the president will be.

Mylar: Mylar described the Trump verdict as “the most significant miscarriage of justice this nation has witnessed.” He said the jury instructions given in the case were “patently unconstitutional” and New York showed it “has no sense of equal justice under the law.”

“We all should worry about what New York has done, what Colorado and other states have done trying to ban Trump from the ballot. In the Colorado case, the U.S. Supreme voted 9-0 to reverse the illegal and political nonsense of Colorado’s courts,” said Mylar. “I suspect the exact same will happen with this recent Trump verdict. He will never get justice in New York but will from the federal system, who are not beholden to the New York leftist power brokers.”

Describing New York’s judicial system as “hopelessly broken,” he said it should be opposed “in pursuit of justice and fairness under the law.”

Terry: “The law should not be twisted and misused to target one individual, as it was in the recent Trump case. Doing so has undermined confidence in our judicial system. I will make sure in Utah, justice will be applied fairly to all,” said Terry.

The border

All Republican candidates in the race have discussion the border and illegal immigration — both on the trail and in debates. The Deseret News asked what role the candidates see the attorney general as having on this issue.

Brown: Brown said there’s an ongoing border crisis and Utah is experiencing effects of that crisis due to federal inaction. He said he supports states like Texas who are taking actions to force the federal government to enforce its laws.

“When I worked for the United States Senate, I spent many hours working on immigration reform and negotiating amendment language involving the Immigration and Nationality Act. I understand these issues intrinsically, and believe that Congress could — if it wanted — solve this problem,” said Brown. “As long as it does not, however, as Utah’s Attorney General, I work with our legislature to ensure that we take any constitutionally-permissible action to address these issues. I will also join forces with Republican Attorneys General in other states to bolster our legal strength and resources.”

Mylar: “We need to secure Utah’s border!” said Mylar adding he will help sheriffs prosecute anyone without legal citizenship who breaks Utah law. He said he will also prosecute anyone who brings a person without legal citizenship into Utah. He said he would stop the practice of outside groups or agencies sending people without legal status to Utah and prevent them from staying in the state after they got here.

Terry: “I’ve been endorsed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and I will join with him in his fight to secure the border and to force the federal government through litigation and any other mechanisms available to us to apply the law,” said Terry.

“I will work with Paxton because the impact of the immigration crisis on the state of Utah has been acute and significant,” said Terry. “I will fight to secure the border because it’s inhumane for both the people coming across the border and those here in Utah.” She added that she will support law enforcement as they deal with issues related to immigration.

“I will support our sheriffs who are really the front line for dealing with these immigration issues because there’s been an increase in not just crime perpetrated by illegal immigrants but it’s against illegal immigrants,” said Terry.

Fentanyl

The fentanyl epidemic in Utah is widespread and has harmed many Utahns. The Deseret News asked what work needs to be done on this front.

Brown: Brown said the lack of security at the border is directly related to the influx of fentanyl into the state and Utah has already seized almost as much fentanyl in the last five months as it has done so in the year previous.

Describing it as “one of the most pressing issues our state is facing,” Brown said he will work with the Utah Legislature to increase funding and resources for county sheriffs as well as for the SECURE Task Force.

“I will devote a significant amount of resources in the Attorney General’s office to ensure that our counties generally, and particularly our rural counties, have what they need to effectively address this scourge,” said Brown.

Mylar: Mylar said fighting illegal immigration is part of fighting fentanyl and he will establish a task force. “We will also have a task force to trace the sources and will go after them,” he said.

Terry: With fentanyl, Terry said the first thing that needs to happen is securing the border. “That’s where the fentanyl is coming from,” she said describing the influx of fentanyl as “a deliberate strategy to destabilize our country.”

“The second is to step up our enforcement, both our drugs and gang task force,” Terry said. She said the state would also need to look at policies on what happens to people who bring drugs into Utah.

“Right now, they’re not getting deported,” said Terry. “We’re incarcerating them for the amount of time allowed under our statue, and then the federal government’s not deporting them for bringing these drugs into our country and into our state.” She said she would look at what could be done there.

Title IX

Utah has joined other states and organizations in suing over Title IX regulations. This issue has come up on the campaign trail, so the Deseret News asked what each candidate thinks needs to be done.

Brown: Whenever Brown sees government bureaucrats overstep the authority given to them by Congress, Brown said he believes states have the constitutional right to push back. He said this was was “one of the most obvious examples” of bureaucratic overreach.

“For this reason, I support the 26 states, including Utah, that have decided to file suits against the Biden Administration’s proposed changes to Title IX, which is scheduled to go into effect on August 1, 2024. Utah, in particular, joined the lawsuit in Kansas for strategic precedential reasons,” said Brown. “As Attorney General, I would continue to work with other Republican Attorneys General in America to advance lawsuits such as this, demonstrating why the Biden Administration’s Title IX rewrite exceeds the authority that Congress has given it under statute.”

Mylar: “I knew this was coming because I work as an Honor Corps attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom,” said Mylar. “I will file a suit fighting the new Title IX regs.” He said he will also encourage the state to push back on the federal regulations as well.

Terry: The federal government has undermined what Title IX is supposed to do, said Terry who added she’s willing and ready to push back on it. “I have litigated Title IX cases for almost 10 years. I have trained in Title IX.”

Terry said she’s passionate about Title IX in part because she played women’s sports all throughout high school and so did her daughter. She said playing sports benefited her and she wants to ensure that girls across the state have it available for them.

Fundraising and campaign update

Brown: Brown said he and his team have worked around the clock on the campaign. He said he’s had one-on-one conversations with many Utahns, done meet greets, made phone calls, advertised on radio, television, billboard and via social media. “We are thrilled overall at how our message has been received,” said Brown.

Since convention, Brown said he’s had success with endorsements from Cox as well from Utah House and Senate leadership.

Brown said he’s been humbled by the amount of support he’s seen through fundraising at every level. “This overwhelming support has enabled us to run a successful statewide campaign getting out our message and connecting with voters all across Utah, and we are grateful for these resources and the show of support by so many rank-and-file Republicans across the state,” he said.

Brown’s campaign reported $136,736.05 in contributions since April 18. Before that point, the campaign had received $298,765.11 in contributions.

That means since 2023, Brown has raised around $750,000.”

Mylar: Through word of mouth, radio and meetings, Mylar said the word is getting out about his campaign. He said he’s received overwhelming support at each venue and also that he received praise for his performance at the St. George debate.

Mylar said fundraising was going well, but he’s “still not soliciting funds from any lobbyists, banks, credit unions or people that would own me. Nobody owns me and that is priceless.”

As of Sunday evening, the last contribution Mylar’s campaign reported was on April 16 for a subtotal of $46,214.53.

Terry: Terry said the campaign has done and will do billboards, cottage meetings, debates, a mailer, but is also continuing to knock doors. “I’ve come to appreciate how important that individual engagement is through the caucus and convention process,” said Terry explaining that when she talks to voters one-on-one she hears about how issues have had a real impact on them.

“We are a grassroots campaign,” said Terry. She said it’s important to her that the campaign still engages individually at this stage and she explained how her own community has been a big part of the campaign.

Terry also added that she would like to see more debates before the primary election.

Though fundraising was slow after the convention, Terry said it’s picked up. “Obviously, I need big donors, but I also really want small donors. I have loved the people who are willing to pay for their own yard sign.”

As of Sunday evening, the last contribution Terry’s campaign reported was on May 17. The campaign had a subtotal of $51,825 contributions