The Utah Republican Party’s civil war between moderates and die-hard conservatives is perfectly mirrored in the state House District 19 race, where Rep. Ray Ward is being challenged by Phill Wright.
Ward is a family physician in Bountiful who sees himself as a problem solver. Earlier this year he sponsored and passed HB12, which expands Medicaid to cover family planning services for low-income women and co-sponsored SB184 to allow women to obtain birth control directly from a pharmacist. He also pushed a doomed resolution, HCR1, recognizing climate change and a scientific consensus that it is human-caused.