Greg Hughes

Early life and education

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Hughes never knew his father and was brought up by a single mother who sold cemetery plots on commission. She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and married when Hughes was five, but the marriage ended in divorce by the time he was ten. At age 16, Hughes was in a car accident with friends, and subsequently used a wheelchair for a year.

He later worked as a bellhop in an upscale Pittsburgh hotel and then on the 1988 presidential campaign staff for George H. W. Bush. He served a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Hughes earned an associate degree from Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University) and attended briefly Brigham Young University.

Career

When District 51 Republican representative John Swallow ran for Congress and left the seat open, Hughes ran in the June 25, 2002 Republican primary and won with 1,047 votes (53%) and was unopposed for the November 5, 2002 general election, winning with 7,224 votes.

Hughes was unopposed in the 2004 and 2006 elections. In 2008, Hughes faced Margaret Bird in the Republican primary. Hughes was unopposed in the 2010 and 2012 elections before facing a primary challenger again in 2014.

From 2015 to 2018, Hughes served as Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives. He opted not to run for re-election in 2018. In January 2020, Hughes announced his candidacy for the 2020 Utah gubernatorial election. In April 2020, Hughes named Washington County Commissioner, Victor Iverson, as his running mate. In the Republican primary, Hughes faced former governor and diplomat Jon Huntsman Jr., incumbent lieutenant governor Spencer Cox, and former chair of the Utah Republican Party, Thomas Wright. After placing third behind Huntsman and Cox, Hughes conceded the race before a winner was announced.

Controversy

Conflict of interest concerns were raised over Hughes' business relationship with developer Kevin Garn while Hughes was serving as the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) board chairman. In April 2011, Greg Hughes and former House Majority Leader Kevin Garn formed a company together to construct an apartment building on land that Hughes owned in downtown Salt Lake City. Several months later, UTA chose a separate company owned by Garn to develop several transit-oriented developments. Hughes was the UTA board chairman at that time, and did not disclose a business relationship with Garn.

In 2018, The Salt Lake Tribune reported on a conflict-of-interest controversy as part of on ongoing federal probe into the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). Questions were raised in 2016 surrounding the company "Urban Chase Property Management", which is co-owned by Hughes, that would use surplus property owned by UTA. Newly-released documents from 2016 show that UTA believed that "Greg Hughes' proposed participation in this project, even if it is just as an investor, appears to be a conflict of interest." Hughes had no comment due to an ongoing federal investigation, but documents indicate Hughes "did not know the project was related to UTA."

In June 2018, a conflict-of-interest caused Greg Hughes to step down from his self-appointed position on the board of the Utah Inland Port Authority after it was discovered that he was registered with at least eight companies owning land within five miles of the inland port. Hughes said he had been unaware that his land was within the disqualification boundary.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/916d54d259b649a6a77a395b5b5e451b/Utah-house-speaker-resigns-from-inland-port-board|title=Utah house speaker resigns from inland port board|website=AP News|date=27 June 2018|access-date=June 27, 2018

Personal life

He and his wife, Krista, live in Draper, Utah with their three kids. Hughes is a self-employed property manager and developer, and has served on the board of the Utah Transit Authority.

References

References

1. (15 June 2023). "22 candidates vie to replace Rep. Chris Stewart in House race".
2. "Gregory Hughes' Biography". [[Project Vote Smart]].
3. "Gregory H. Hughes". Utah House of Representatives.
4. "House Speaker Greg Hughes won't seek re-election, but says he's no 'lame duck'". Salt Lake Tribune.
5. (July 2020). "Greg Hughes concedes Utah governor's race". KUTV News.
6. (12 June 2023). "Who's in 2nd District race? Becky Edwards, Greg Hughes among those filing to replace Stewart".
7. (29 June 2009). "Tough Pittsburgh kid Hughes still standing in the Utah ring". Deseret News.
8. [https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2019/11/13/investigative-report/ "Investigative report shines new light into dark corners of a controversial Draper train station development," The Salt Lake Tribune, November 13, 2019]
9. "Gregory H. Hughes". Utah House of Representatives.
10. "Greg Hughes: Incoming House speaker scraps his way to top".
11. "Official Results State of Utah Primary Election June 25, 2002". Lieutenant Governor of Utah.
12. "2002 General Election Results". Lieutenant Governor of Utah.
13. "2004 General Election Results". Lieutenant Governor of Utah.
14. "Greg Hughes". Utah House of Representatives.
15. "About". Re-Elect Greg Hughes.
16. Romboy, Dennis. (2020-01-08). "Ex-Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes launches bid for governor".
17. Roche, Lisa Riley. (2020-04-14). "Gubernatorial candidate Greg Hughes names southern Utah commissioner as running mate".
18. "Cox widens lead over Huntsman by about 500 votes in updated tally".
19. "Developer won UTA deals after forming company with then-Chairman Greg Hughes".
20. "Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes lands in another conflict-of-interest controversy".
21. "House Speaker Greg Hughes' property holdings appear to disqualify him from the inland port board that he appointed himself to".
22. "Conflict of Interest". Utah House of Representatives.