Derek Kitchen may soon become one of the most unexpected faces in Congress: a gay Democrat from deep-red Utah who built his political identity on equality, community, and refusing to back down.
Derek Kitchen — former Utah state senator, Salt Lake City Council member, marriage-equality plaintiff, and Biden administration official — is running for the Democratic nomination in Utah’s newly redrawn First Congressional District. With all of Salt Lake City now united inside a single district for the first time in decades, Kitchen believes the moment is made for real representation.
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A District Reunited — and a Candidate Who Has Never Left
Kitchen says the map didn’t just shift the political landscape; it reshaped his sense of duty.
“The people of Salt Lake City have not had real representation in Congress in generations,” he says, arguing that years of gerrymandering carved up communities that should have had a single voice.
The new lines changed that — and for him, the decision became immediate.
“My gut and my heart just aligned,” he explains. “I knew I had to jump in and defend the interests of the place that raised me.”
Kitchen stresses that this isn’t a carpetbagger campaign. He grew up in the district, attended local schools, and opened Laziz Kitchen — his restaurant on Harvey Milk Boulevard — in the very heart of the community he hopes to represent.
“This is my community… this is where I’ve spent my entire life.”
Kitchen’s Rise: From Marriage Equality Plaintiff to Statewide Leader
Kitchen entered national headlines in 2013 as the lead plaintiff in Kitchen v. Herbert, the landmark case that toppled Utah’s same-sex marriage ban. When the 10th Circuit upheld the ruling a year later, it expanded marriage equality to five additional states.
For Kitchen, the victory felt poetic. He often points out that when California briefly lost marriage rights in 2008 under Proposition 8, much of the funding came from Utah. The later reversal — originating from a Utah case — felt like history correcting itself.
His political career took shape soon afterward: Salt Lake City Council in 2015, Utah Senate in 2018. In the legislature, he helped push through a major housing-stability bill, worked with Republicans to protect minors from conversion therapy, and sponsored legislation on climate change, family planning, ending LGBTQ+ panic defenses, and raising wages. Not all of those proposals survived the GOP-dominated legislature, but Kitchen says he never wavered.
“I’ve built a career of standing strong for my community, even when the establishment didn’t like it.”
When he left the Senate after a razor-thin primary loss in 2022, he joined the Biden administration as a senior leader at the U.S. Export-Import Bank.
A Platform Centered on Equality, Economic Security, and Utah Families
Kitchen warns that LGBTQ+ communities — especially transgender people — are being targeted nationwide.
“They’re being scapegoated and bullied by state legislatures, including Utah’s,” he says.
He argues that now is the moment for bold, unapologetic representation.
If elected, he plans to prioritize affordable housing, childcare access, healthcare expansion, and the long-sought Equality Act. And he’s clear about solidarity:
“It’s the responsibility of lesbian and gay members of our community to stand shoulder to shoulder with our transgender brothers and sisters.”
A High-Stakes Primary With Big Ideological Differences
Kitchen is running against two well-known Democrats: former congressman Ben McAdams and state senator Kathleen Riebe. Both have LGBTQ-allied records, but Kitchen argues the new district — now safely Democratic — needs someone more progressive, especially on reproductive rights.
“We deserve somebody who is pro-choice and going to fight for a woman’s right to choose,” he says, noting that McAdams personally opposes most abortions.
On the Republican side, current First District congressman Blake Moore is running — even as state leaders fight the new map in court and consider delaying the candidate filing deadline.
Kitchen, however, isn’t flinching. “I am in the race,” he says, regardless of how the legislature maneuvers.
What Kitchen Hopes Utah Sends to Washington
The primary is scheduled for June 23, giving Kitchen just months to secure the nomination. A win would make Utah — long viewed as a conservative stronghold — home to one of Congress’s only out gay men from a deep-red state.
He believes the symbolism matters.
“Doing this well means the LGBTQ community can send another member of Congress to Washington and grow the Equality Caucus — and coming from Utah, that’s a powerful statement.”
REFERENCE: Advocate