Jan Graham
Jan Graham | |
|---|---|
| 18th Attorney General of Utah | |
| In office January 1993 – January 2001 | |
| Governor | Mike Leavitt |
| Preceded by | Paul Van Dam |
| Succeeded by | Mark Shurtleff |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Janet Ann Crump 1948 or 1949 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | February 1, 2024 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Buzz Hunt (m. 1989) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Website | http://www.grahamlawoffices.com |
Janet Ann Graham (née Crump; 1948 or 1949 – February 1, 2024) was an American lawyer from Utah who served as State Attorney General from 1993 to 2001.[1] Other than candidates for Lieutenant Governor running on a ticket with a male candidate, she is the only[2] woman ever elected to statewide office in the state of Utah.[3] She was the most recent Democrat to serve in a statewide elected position in Utah.
Early life, education, and legal career
Jan Crump was born around 1949[4] and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah.[5][6] She graduated from South High in 1967, and enrolled at Brigham Young University. She transferred to the University of Utah, and then to Clark University in Massachusetts, and graduated in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.[6]
She returned to Salt Lake and enrolled in the University of Utah's graduate school, where she got a master's degree in psychology in 1977.[6] While in graduate school, she worked as a teacher at Franklin Elementary for one year, and as a counselor at the Northwest Multipurpose Center. In 1977, she enrolled in the University of Utah law school, and was awarded her J.D. in 1980.[6] While in law school, she married, and took the name Graham. She subsequently divorced.[5]
She was hired at Jones, Waldo, Holbrook and McDonough in 1980. By 1985, she had made partner, and become the first woman on the Board of Directors. In 1989, she married Buzz Hunt.[7] She was a founding member of Women Lawyers of Utah, and one of the first four women members of the Alta Club.[8]
Public office
Joe Tesch, who was working for then-Attorney General Paul Van Dam, asked Jan to apply for the job of solicitor general in 1990. She ran for the office of Attorney General in 1992, while she was pregnant with her first child. She had her baby two days after the State Democratic Convention. In the general election, she defeated Iron County Attorney Scott Burns, getting 49% of the statewide vote.[9] She was re-elected in 1996 in a rematch with Burns with 52% of the vote.[10]
Jan Graham made the state of Utah a plaintiff in landmark tobacco legislation. The litigation included arguments over the Attorney General's power, both from the tobacco companies,[11] and from Utah's Governor, Michael Leavitt.[12] The struggle between Utah's only Democratic statewide officeholder and the state's Republican legislature and Governor resulted in passage of a law requiring the Governor's okay on any civil litigation. The Attorney General sued, a compromise was reached, and the law was ultimately repealed.[13][14]
At the end of her second term, Jan Graham was one of two women on the Deseret News's list of Utah's most powerful people.[15] In addition to being the only woman ever elected on her own* to statewide office in Utah, she is also the most recent Democrat elected to statewide office in Utah.[16]
- Deidre Henderson was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor on a ticket headed by Spencer Cox.[17] Olene Walker was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor on a ticket headed by Mike Leavitt. She succeeded him as Governor, but was not elected to that post.[18]
See also
References
- ^ Former Utah Attorney General Jan Graham has died
- ^ "Rolly: Lack of women in politics has real consequences, Salt Lake Tribune, June 8, 2013".
- ^ UVU Utah Women in Office
- ^ Groutage, Hilary. "Graham wins cliff-hanger race". Daily Spectrum. p. 10. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ a b Whitney, Susan (June 5, 1997). "Jan Graham: A private person in a public life". Deseret News. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Graham to speak at women's conference". Tooele Transcript-Bulletin. April 19, 1994. p. 5. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ "GRAHAM'S VALUES ROOTED IN WORKING-CLASS FAMILY, Deseret News, Oct. 10 1996". DeseretNews.com. 10 October 1996.
- ^ ""Women Lawyers of Utah: How it All Started," Utah Bar Journal, January 8, 2007". Archived from the original on March 11, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
- ^ David Leip. "1992 Attorney General General Election Results — Utah".
- ^ David Leip. ""1996 Attorney General General Election Results — Utah," US Election Atlas".
- ^ PHILIP MORRIS INCORPORATED, et. al. vs. JANET C. GRAHAM, Attorney General of the State of Utah, et. al. DEFENDANTS' MEMORANDUM IN RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT, Civil No. 960904948C
- ^ ""'Unprecedented' Power Struggle Puts Utah Statehouse in Spotlight," Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1999". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ ""Graham and Leavitt may have settled feud," Deseret News, July 21, 1999". DeseretNews.com. 21 July 1999.
- ^ ""Rolly: Utah lawmakers' affair with big tobacco," The Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 18, 2013".
- ^ ""No. 10 — Jan Graham," Deseret News, May 16, 2001". DeseretNews.com. 16 May 2001.
- ^ ""Swallow and single-party voting," The Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 19, 2013".
- ^ "Spencer Cox declared winner of Utah governor's race as first results come in," Daily Herald, November 3, 2020
- ^ "Utah group aims to help more women win public office," Deseret News, January 16, 2016
