SALT LAKE CITY – A local economist is hoping to unseat Utah’s Senate majority leader in the midterm election for Senate District 19 as the district faces a cost of living and housing crisis.
The district encompasses southeastern Salt Lake County and the northeastern corner of Utah County. It includes Sandy, Draper, and the ski town of Alta.
Incumbent GOP Sen. Kirk Cullimore is campaigning to keep his seat against Democratic candidate Shana Anderson.
They head into the election as Senate District 19 faces an affordability crisis. Increasing cost of living and housing prices are affecting all of Utah, but the district is a hotspot for unaffordability.
A report from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors listed Draper as the most expensive city in Salt Lake County for buying a home.
Rising costs are certainly on voters’ minds—a recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found affordability was respondents’ top issue. Similarly, a poll from youth civic group Ignite! Utah found that 40% of Gen Z respondents listed housing as their top issue.
Who are the Senate District 19 candidates?
Cullimore was elected to serve District 19 in 2022. Before that, he represented Utah State Senate District 9. Cullimore has also served as the state Senate majority leader since 2025.
The state senator is also an attorney who spent over a decade at his father’s law firm, which specializes in landlord representation. The firm handles almost half of the state’s eviction filings, according to reporting from the Utah Investigative Journalism Project.
Cullimore left the firm in 2023, saying he wanted to dedicate more time to his legislative career.
He’s been criticized for overlap between the firm’s interests and the senator’s policymaking. In 2020, Cullimore proposed a bill that would allow lawyers to dismiss one judge per case. The bill didn’t go anywhere, but critics said it was an effort by the lawmaker to stack the deck in his favor for his legal business.
Additionally, Cullimore sponsored Senate Bill 182 in 2020 that advocates said could be used by landlords to serve eviction notices via email and electronic messaging. Tenant advocates opposed the measure, warning it shortened response windows and stripped renters of due process protections during eviction proceedings.
This year, he also sponsored a bill that created a special court that exclusively hears eviction cases.
As Cullimore seeks a third term in the legislature, his priorities include lowering taxes, protecting Utah’s families, and safeguarding Utah’s environment, according to his campaign website.
What is Shana Anderson proposing?
His opponent, Anderson, is an Army veteran and holds a master’s degree in applied economics.
According to her campaign website, Anderson’s priorities include housing affordability, government accountability, and restoring the Great Salt Lake.
Anderson said she wants to find ways to discourage corporations from buying up single-family homes and change tax law to benefit owner-occupied homes.
“Homeownership brings stability, and it brings economic growth,” Anderson said in a social media video. “I don’t want to live in a society of renters.”
Additionally, Anderson said she wants to curb legislative overreach, criticizing lawmakers’ attempts to overhaul the state court system, redraw voting maps, and expand quasi-governmental bodies like the Military Installation Development Authority, which can override local zoning decisions.
Senate District 19 voters will have the chance to make their voices heard on Nov. 3. Check whether you’re registered to vote by filling out our form below.
