This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Republican House Majority Leader Jim Dunnigan was bounced form his leadership spot Thursday night by Rep. Brad Wilson.
In other leadership elections, Herriman Rep. Jon Knotwell beat out three colleagues — Reps. Steve Eliason and Lowry Snow and Jeremy Peterson — to take Wilson's spot as assistant majority whip.
In the Senate, Peter Knudson held on to his post as assistant whip, fending off challenges from Sens. Deidre Henderson and Wayne Harper.
Wilson, a Kaysville Republican who had served as assistant majority whip, co-chaired the prison relocation commission and had previously served as vice chairman of the Legislature's budget committee.
Dunnigan did little to fight to hold onto his leadership post, preoccupied with a fairly tough re-election fight for his Taylorsville seat, and in the end opted to not even contest the election. Wilson had been lining up support from his colleagues for weeks and it became clear that there would be a change in the Republican's top House post.
"[Dunnigan] explained the race he had and the time it took and was unable to campaign and he wasn't going to seek the position," said House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper.
"I was the only option they had," Wilson joked.
Wilson and Knotwell join Mapleton Rep. Francis Gibson to round out the leadership team.
Wilson, who was first elected in 2010, is the owner of Destination Homes and is one of the wealthiest members of the Utah Legislature. Last session, he sponsored legislation to tighten the legal requirements for victims of asbestos-related disease to sue for damages and a controversial bill governing how cities can limit changes to homes in historic districts.
He has also sponsored several bills to give tax-break incentives to film production, manufacturing, venture capital investment and tourism in the state and construction of a new convention center and hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.
Dunnigan served for the last two years as majority leader, is best known as being a leader in the body on health-care reform. He was instrumental in resisting Gov. Gary Herbert's Healthy Utah proposal to use federal Medicaid dollars to expand health insurance for low-income Utahns under Obamacare.
After two failed attempts to expand health coverage, Dunnigan sponsored a bill that provides health coverage to several thousand Utahns who are poor, suffering from mental illness or recently incarcerated.
Dunnigan also chaired the committee that investigated malfeasance by former Attorney General John Swallow and eventually said that Swallow had hung a "For Sale" sign on the door of the attorney general's office.
Knudson was facing what was believed to be a stiff challenge from Henderson, who would have been the first woman to hold a leadership position since House Speaker Becky Lockhart stepped down in 2012.
His victory means that the Republican leadership in the Senate will be identical to the team that has been in place for the last two years, with Wayne Niederhauser as president, Ralph Okerlund majority leader, Stuart Adams as majority whip and Knudson as assistant whip.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke