A record number of women in the Utah Legislature this year includes one who defeated two men in elections last year to get there.

Taylorsville resident and House District 31 Representative Verona Mauga defeated a fellow Democrat – the seat’s incumbent, Brett Garner – at last year’s party convention. Then, last November, she upended her Republican opponent, Bill Swann, in the general election. Neither race was close: 73% to 27% at the convention; 58% to 42% in the general.

Now Mauga is representing nearly half of Taylorsville’s residents, along with just about as many constituents in West Valley City. 

“I ran a very robust campaign, knocking on about 10,000 doors,” Mauga said. “I felt good going into the election. But you just don’t know. We live in a conservative state. I was nervous.”

About two hours after the polls closed, the first numbers in her race were released. Although they weren’t yet final, the lead margin told Mauga and her supporters they had won.

One of the most excited Mauga supporters on election night was someone else who was awaiting her own election results.

“Verona is absolutely ready for this; she’s already doing such amazing work in the community,” Sen. Karen Kwan said. “Verona knows the issues in the district. She is hitting the ground running.”

Kwan first met Mauga about a decade ago, early in her political career, when Mauga worked on her Utah House election campaigns. Mauga was still a Kwan campaign volunteer in the fall of 2022 when Kwan was elected to the newly-reconfigured House District 31 seat.

Shortly after that is when Sen. Karen Mayne resigned her position for health reasons. Mayne passed away last summer, following a lengthy battle with brain cancer. 

A special election in January 2023 shifted Kwan from the Utah House to the Senate – and ever since then, she has supported Mauga’s effort to replace her in House District 31.

“I am really excited about what Verona brings to the legislature,” Kwan concluded. “She has such a strong, unique perspective as a business owner. Her keen interest in our criminal justice process will also be very important. She’s ready.”

Several years ago, Mauga joined family members in opening a bakery and café. Then last year, Mauga opened a new business. In a letter to the Salt Lake Tribune, she described how she believes each of those businesses have helped prepare her for her new task as a state lawmaker.

“In 2018, my family and I opened Sagato Bakery & Café in Midvale (sagatofoods.com). Running a small business has taught me resilience, patience and the value of every customer. It’s also shown me how crucial community support is to success. No business, no person, no family can thrive without it.

“As the co-owner of My Choice Utah (mychoiceutah.com), a business that provides supportive host home services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, I’ve gained an even deeper understanding of the challenges many families face – finding quality care, balancing work and life and making sure their loved ones are safe and supported. This experience has strengthened my resolve to fight for policies that make life better for all families in our district.” 

Since winning her election a dozen weeks ago, Mauga has been doing what Kwan describes as “drinking from a firehose.”

“When you’re a freshman in the Legislature, so much comes at you at once,” Kwan said. “One bit of advice I gave Verona is, use two phones. You need to keep your legislative work and your personal life a little bit separate. They frontload a lot of information for new lawmakers – but I know she’s getting it just fine.”

Mauga says she learned she’d be busy within 24 hours of winning her seat.

“After campaigning so long and hard, my goal after the election was to turn my phone completely off for 24 hours – just one day,” Mauga said. “I didn’t quite make it. At 6 p.m. the next evening I turned it back on and I already had a bunch of paperwork to fill out for the legislature. Since then, it’s been an interim session, caucus meetings, talking with organizations and community stakeholders. They’ve offered information on how to draft and file bills. It’s been busy.”

Less than a week before this year’s session opened on Jan. 21, Mauga and several other Utah freshman representatives flew to Texas to attend a public safety conference. She was asked to join that trip because of her placement on the legislature’s Judiciary Standing Committee.

“Each freshman representative was asked to submit the names of committees they wanted to serve,” Mauga explained. “I requested the Judiciary and Economic Development Committees and got placed on both of them. I am also serving on the Economic Development Appropriations Committee. So I received all the assignments I was hoping for.”

As for her first bills, Mauga is prefiling a half dozen.

“I didn’t go in planning to file six bills; but people have already come to me with issues I want to support,” she explained. “All of these bills were brought to me by community organizations and constituents. None of them are something I preplanned, to come in with some kind of agenda. I am here to represent my constituents.”

Two of the six bills Mauga is sponsoring relate to public safety for people riding bicycles in bike lanes and fraud protections for military Veterans. 

In the run up to this year’s legislative session, Mauga also had the opportunity to talk with Taylorsville Mayor Kristie Overson.

“I am very impressed with her,” the mayor said of Mauga. “She’s been a Taylorsville resident for many years. Her family is very strong and rooted in the community. I think she will be a great addition. I didn’t inundate her with things the city would like her to do. I just said we look forward to having good communication and assisting her with anything she might need from Taylorsville City.”

As she enters this first session, Mauga is confident she can work well on behalf of her conservative and more liberal constituents alike.

“I spoke with so many families during the campaign – Republicans, Democrats, everyone,” she concluded. “A Democrat can’t earn an elected office in Utah without support from both parties. I learned everyone has about the same core values. We want our families to be safe. We want our kids to get good educations with supportive teachers. We want affordable housing. We want to protect the Great Salt Lake and our water supply. We want to slow inflation as best we can. These aren’t partisan issues – and I plan to do the best I can to help with all of them.” λ