Silver Creek Village resident Kris Campbell is once again campaigning to represent District 4 in the Utah House of Representatives. But this time, he’s running as a Republican.
Campbell earned the Utah Democratic Party’s nomination for the District 4 seat, which encompasses Morgan, Rich and most of Summit counties, in 2022 and in 2024, failing to defeat former GOP Rep. Kera Birkeland at the general election each time. Campbell later registered as a Republican in hopes of securing the state GOP’s nomination after Birkeland resigned weeks after the 2024 election, though he did not earn enough support.
Now, Campbell is sticking with the party to advocate for fair representation in Utah’s political landscape amidst an ongoing redistricting debacle and he is motivated by a desire to create a more open dialogue between political parties.
“I continue to want to find ways to continue the conversation across the political spectrum, to improve the conversation between constituents and elected officials,” Campbell said. “I think we get our best solutions when we’re combining our perspectives and sharing and continuing to work together to improve communication.”
Campbell grew up in Wyoming and earned a bachelor’s degree in math before moving to New York for his master’s degree in applied math. He spent some time living in central Pennsylvania before the mountains came calling. Campbell then moved to Utah, where he earned a doctorate in computing, and eventually relocated to Summit County in 2009.
Campbell’s career has largely been focused in the technology and communications industries, and he considers himself skilled in problem-solving. In the fall, he founded consulting business Raven Insights to help businesses and individuals “catalyze” their work.
For more than 15 years, Campbell has been involved with nonprofits and community organizations, including Summit Pride, Park City Rotary, American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and BootUp PD, an organization dedicated to helping elementary school students learn coding skills. Campbell also describes himself as a “transgender man of faith.”
Campbell said he’s been inspired to run for public office because community — and community service — is important to him. In 2020, Campbell started gathering signatures as an unaffiliated candidate before the coronavirus pandemic discouraged him from knocking on doors.
In 2022, Birkeland hosted a town hall in Morgan County that Campbell attended and later encouraged him to run for office. The then-Democrat saw a campaign as an opportunity to start conversations about what the candidates have in common and discuss what good policy means. That’s the philosophy he carried into the 2024 campaign, and now 2026.
“One of the issues that’s been really important to me over time is fair representation,” Campbell said. “I’m really interested in how we can improve our electoral process to make sure people feel represented in the state of Utah, because of the way districts have been gerrymandered, Democrats and Independents do not feel represented at the state level. Just like in Summit County, Republicans did not feel represented at the county-level.”
Campbell said he believes in personal freedom without infringements from the government and considers himself more fiscally conservative. He’s always identified as independent and feels party politics are unhealthy. Campbell said his focus is on unity, not the initial next to his name.
If elected to state House District 4, Campbell hopes to build constructive cross-party collaboration and civic involvement. He is committed to transparency and improving the legislative process, including increasing public participation, fair representation and accessibility.
Campbell sees the major issues as fair representation, fair process and fair taxes. He also wants to address other areas affecting voters in Summit, Morgan and Rich counties, such as affordable housing, second-home ownership, environmental protections and personal privacy.
He’s also committed to improving local control and preventing state overreach. Campbell specifically mentioned how Summit County was “micromanaged” by the Legislature during the Dakota Pacific Real Estate development process, and ultimately passed a law requiring officials to approve the project.
Campbell is challenging incumbent Rep. Tiara Auxier to win the Republican nomination for District 4. Snyderville Basin resident Brandi Connolly is also campaigning for the seat. The state GOP will choose its nominee during an upcoming convention, though a primary election could take place on June 23.
The Republican nominee will face either Zane Woolstenhulme or Zeppelin Zeerip, both Democrats, during the general election on Nov. 3.