Utah Republican Party delegates cast their votes for candidates at state conventions over the weekend. After a close count, there will be a primary election for Utah House District 59, which includes Summit and Wasatch counties, between Luke Searle and Jeffrey Pierce.
Searle earned 56.5% of the vote while 43.5% went to Pierce. A candidate needed to secure 60% to earn the party nomination. Whoever wins the June primary will face off against former Midway Mayor Celese Johnson, a Democrat, in November to replace outgoing Rep. Mike Kohler.
Having been a Wasatch County Council member since 2023, Searle is no stranger to local politics. He said he first ran for County Council because he wanted to make a better life for his family.
“That’s why I’m running again for the Legislature,” Searle said. “You go where you could be able to be most effective, and I think I could be an effective voice for our community.”
Searle lives in Heber City and works as a business marketing teacher at Wasatch High School. Recently, Searle became the advisor for Wasatch High School’s Turning Point USA chapter — a nonprofit originally founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk.
The county councilor said he is running for House District 59 because Utah is “becoming unaffordable.”
“Utah has always been known as a place where you can come and raise a family and do so in an affordable way. And the cost of living is hurting everybody, whether that’s our groceries or our utility bills, but especially our property taxes,” Searle said. “Property taxes across the state have skyrocketed, and we need to focus on that as a state and provide the relief and reform necessary so that we don’t go on the trajectory of becoming Colorado or California.”
But Searle said he also believes that local control matters. In recent years, he said, the state Legislature has overridden local control of certain operations and tax management.
“It feels like every year, the state Legislature erodes some of that control and puts in a lot of unfunded mandates to have to increase those property taxes,” Searle said.
Development is also a major issue for Searle, who said he is against “stupid growth.”
“What stupid growth is to me is when the state gets involved and usurps the local process,” Searle said. “I’m a believer in property rights, but I think it should go through the local process … rather than the state preempting us with these preliminary municipalities and other issues that are happening.”
Searle said he believes the state House District 59 race is of the utmost importance.
“We should send someone who has the experience of growing up here, raising a family here, and being part of the decisions that have gone on,” Searle said. “These issues have mattered to me long before the campaign had started; these are things that I’ve been working on for years.”
Pierce agrees that the House District 59 race is critical. As an Old Town Park City resident and local investor, Pierce said he has the necessary experience to represent Summit and Wasatch counties as the district’s representative.
“I was kind of almost drafted into this by people in the community, both Wasatch and Summit County, who are just frustrated with the state of the state at this point and out-of-control spending,” Pierce said.
As an investor, Pierce said he has the time to “effectively be a watchdog for this community” when it comes to state matters.
He pointed out issues he took umbrage with, like the passing of Senate Bill 258 in 2024, which established a process for landowners to incorporate a preliminary municipality to develop land or incorporate into a town. He said that has become a real point of contention in Wasatch County.
“A lot of these issues were very preventable by Mike Kohler,” Pierce said about the current House District 59 representative. “There was once a time when the state Legislature actually worked for the people of Utah. That time was about 20 years ago.”
Pierce spoke passionately about the defense of open lands and Heber Valley’s North Fields. He said there should be no development in the wetland area and that he would fight against such actions as a representative for Wasatch County.
The Park City resident said that, in particular, the biggest reason he is running for the state seat is to offer “effective representation.”
“In particular, solving local land use issues and property taxes, and being effective on those two issues,” Pierce said. “To date, we have not had someone effectively advocate for our communities on those issues at the state level, and my policies are vital on this.”
Wallsburg resident Mark Allen was also in the running for the state House seat, but was eliminated at the convention after the first round of voting.
The primary election will be held on June 23.