Tami Tran and Denny Wanlass share their plans to reduce the role of government and improve affordability in the GOP Senate District 6 primary.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 6, 2026.
Note to readers • This story is made possible through a partnership between The Salt Lake Tribune and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
The Republicans running in Utah’s Senate District 6 primary are hoping to fill a big seat in the Legislature.
Layton Republican Sen. Jerry Stevenson — chair of the Legislature’s top budgeting committee — has held that seat since 2010. He also served on controversial boards like the Utah Inland Port Authority and the Military Industrial Development Authority, which green-lit a controversial hyperscale data center in Box Elder County this spring.
Robert “Denny” Wanlass and Tamara “Tami” Tran are vying to take his place. Tran has served as the Kaysville mayor since 2022 and founded a defense contracting company. Wanlass is a self-proclaimed political outsider who works in real estate.
The district includes cities on the west side of Davis County, like Kaysville, Syracuse and Clearfield, along with a large swath of the Great Salt Lake, including Antelope Island and a portion of the drying Farmington Bay.
The Salt Lake Tribune posed the following questions, based on a reader survey about the issues Utahns felt were most important this election season, to each of the four candidates. Their answers — listed in alphabetical order — may have been edited slightly for length, style or grammar.
A plurality of voters, more than 30%, said elected official corruption is the primary issue driving who they’ll vote for, with another nearly 14% of voters saying it is their second-highest issue. Why are so many Utah voters concerned about corruption in politics? How will you build trust with Utahns?
Tran: Utahns are right to be frustrated. When decisions get made behind closed doors and donors get more access than neighbors, trust breaks down. In Kaysville, I did things differently. Open meetings. Clear communication. No surprises. People knew what was happening and why. That is the standard I will bring to the Senate. A government that operates in the open does not need to hide anything.
Wanlass: I am a political outsider. I have no allegiances to any legislator, lobbyist, PAC, etc., and have received no donations from any. I consider myself a principled conservative that is only beholden to the Constitution and the people that elected me.
After corruption, more than 16% of Utah voters said everyday affordability — like the cost of housing, groceries, gas, etc. — is the first thing on their minds as they vote this year. Another 15% said it is their second-highest issue. What will you do to help make life more affordable for Utahns?
Tran: Utah families are working harder and still falling behind. Groceries, gas, housing — the cost of everyday life keeps climbing. Government should not add to that burden. I will cut junk fees, eliminate duplicate costs buried in state regulations and make sure new infrastructure is paid for by developers, not taxpayers. I will fight for real tax relief on groceries and gas and oppose mandates that drive up energy prices.
Wanlass: This is a complex issue that will be hard to cover here. We live in a capitalist society, where markets (should) rule. While not necessarily the whole problem, I believe that government intervention in the marketplaces causes more problems than it solves and rarely fixes anything. The Legislature will have very little impact on the cost of groceries or gas, short of reducing/eliminating taxes on them (which I support). Housing is super complex with many factors influencing it. I admit that I don’t know the solution but am willing to collaborate to find a solution that actually works.
Utah has experienced drought for much of the last two decades. The availability of water is the third-most-pressing issue for voters this year. What can elected officials do to ensure Utahns have enough water for the future?
Tran: Water security starts with getting the government out of its own way. I will push to streamline permitting for new reservoirs and storage projects that have been stuck. I support market-based conservation tools that respect property rights, rather than top-down mandates. Developers and large commercial users should bear their share of infrastructure costs — not taxpayers or farmers. I also support investment in technologies like wastewater recycling to stretch existing supplies. Local communities know their water needs. State government should empower them to act, not create more delays.
Wanlass: First off, the government cannot make backroom deals for water-hungry data centers. People should be encouraged to conserve. Perhaps new reservoirs need to be constructed to store more water for our growing population.
Should the state continue to pursue nuclear energy, yes or no? What can be done to address Utah’s growing energy needs?
Tran: Yes. Utah needs an all-of-the-above energy strategy focused on abundance. That means moving forward on small modular nuclear reactors for clean, reliable baseload power. It means cutting permitting delays on natural gas and expanding transmission infrastructure. It means developing Utah’s own energy resources instead of depending on federal policy that changes with every administration. I support private-sector innovation in renewables where they make economic sense. I oppose federal green mandates that drive up costs for families and businesses. Utah should be producing more energy, not less.
Wanlass: Yes. Nuclear is the best option, but does require a lot of water. Coal and natural gas generation should also be encouraged and used.
In 2018, voters narrowly passed the Better Boundaries initiative, creating an independent redistricting commission and prohibiting partisan gerrymandering. The Legislature’s attempts to significantly weaken the Better Boundaries initiative spawned years of litigation, culminating in a court adopting new congressional boundaries. Who should be responsible for drawing Utah’s political boundaries? Why?
Tran: The Utah Constitution gives this responsibility to the Legislature, and I think that is the right answer. Elected officials are accountable to voters in a way that appointed commissions are not. If legislators draw bad maps, voters can remove them. That accountability matters. What I do insist on is transparency in the process. Criteria should be public. Hearings should be real. Maps should reflect communities, not political convenience. Representative government works when the people drawing the lines have to answer to the people living inside them.
Wanlass: The Utah Constitution gives that authority to the Legislature and they should be the entity to do it.
Is there an imbalance of power between the Legislature and the courts? If so, what should be done about it?
Tran: Yes, and it is a real concern. Judges interpret law. Legislators make it. When courts start making policy decisions that belong to elected representatives, that shifts power away from the people. I support clear legislative action to define the boundaries of judicial authority where the constitution allows it. I also support stronger legislative oversight tools so that the elected branch can push back when courts overstep. This is not about any single ruling. It is about maintaining the structure of representative government that Utah was built on.
Wanlass: I don’t know that there is an imbalance, per se. It is a system of checks and balances. Judges should be reviewed and scored based on their adherence to the constitution, and that data should be easily readable and accessible to the public.
What do you believe is the most pressing issue before voters this year? What can be done to address it?
Tran: Affordability. But not just prices. It’s the weight of government on people trying to get ahead. Regulations that strangle small businesses before they get started. Red tape kills the entrepreneurial spirit that built this country. Families living paycheck to paycheck, not because they are not working hard enough, but because government keeps taking more and making everything cost more. I will fight to cut the regulatory burden on small businesses, eliminate wasteful spending and push for real tax relief, including cutting the Social Security tax so seniors can keep more of what they earned.
Wanlass: The most pressing issue I see is corruption or perceived corruption all through the Utah government — from the governor to the Legislature to the courts. The second is the Great Salt Lake and the need to save it.