SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 20, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Businesswoman, entrepreneur and philanthropist Jan Garbett has entered the race to be Utah’s next governor as a Republican, she announced Thursday.
Garbett and her husband, Bryson, own the home development company Garbett Homes. She is also the founder of EPIK Deliberate Digital and co-founder of the Escalera Foundation, according to Wikipedia.
Garbett ran for election as a United Utah Party candidate to represent Utah’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House. She withdrew before the general election on Nov. 6, 2018.
Prior to joining Democrat Vaughn R. Cook’s ticket for governor and lieutenant governor of Utah in 2016, Garbett was a registered Republican, though she had previously been a Democrat in college, Wikipedia said. Her husband served two terms in the Utah House of Representatives in the 1980s.
Her Facebook page, titled Jan Garbett for Governor, says: “Jan VanDenBerghe Garbett is a 1978 graduate of the University of Utah with a degree in English. Jan is the daughter of an immigrant father, the mother of eight children, grandmother to seven, sister to nine. Jan is an aunt, cousin, and friend to hundreds both locally and across the world.
“She is also a highly successful entrepreneur and business woman who started and still actively runs an award-winning multi-million-dollar home building and construction company, a philanthropist, community activist, arts advocate, proud member of her church, human rights champion, and has been honored and recognized by the United Nations for the non-profits she has created and continues to develop.”
Her Facebook page also describes her mission: “Jan Garbett believes that we can better our community as we work with the varied sectors of which it is comprised. Moving the community forward comes not from just inviting the experts to solve problems but gleaning from those who care and the everyday citizen who has the critical knowledge, the ‘lived experience’ which will construct the way to move forward. We’re all in this together– so let’s enjoy the ride!”
Also in the race for governor are former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr., Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton, entrepreneur Jeff Burningham, former Utah Republican Party Chairman Thomas Wright and Former House Speaker Greg Hughes.
