Rep. Quinn Kotter announced he is resigning from the Utah House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon. The republican lawmaker’s resignation from representing District 26 in West Valley City will be official on Sept. 9.
“Life circumstances have affected my ability to devote my full attention and energies to this position of service, and the stress has begun to severely affect my health and work,” Kotter wrote in his resignation letter to Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson. “I do not feel it fair to the constituents of this district or to the State to serve in a hindered manner since prior to this I have dedicated all my capabilities to serve, and the people deserve such commitment.”
Kotter took office in January and has served in just one session of the Utah Legislature.
How did Kotter vote during the 2023 legislative session?
During the 2023 legislature, Kotter had the highest percentage of “nay” votes out of any lawmakers in both chambers — he voted no more than 16% of the time, according to KSL.com.
He made headlines when he spoke emotionally during a January 2023 committee hearing regarding HB132, a bill that called for more regulation in gender reassignment surgeries and treatments for youth in Utah, Deseret News reported. He spoke in favor of the bill, quoting the Bible and calling for fellow lawmakers to vote in favor of the bill, saying that it’s “good for the family. We need to protect our families.”
After sharing a story of his own personal struggles to “feel attractive enough,” he opened up about “severe anxiety” he felt and went to a facility to receive care. While he was there, he “connected very well with a transgender individual. ... Their problems were very different from my problems, but we both had a lot of pain.”
According to his bio on the House legislature website, he worked professionally as a chemical engineer and graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in chemical engineering. Kotter is a Utah native, and one of his campaign goals was to use “his expertise to take sulfur pollutants out of our air,” his website reads.
“I appreciate Rep. Kotter’s service to his constituents & to Utah,” Wilson posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “His sacrifice has not gone unnoticed. Life circumstances have affected his ability to devote his full attention to this position, and I wish him the best as he serves our country and state in other capacities.”
The Utah House of Representatives account on X announced the resignation and wished Kotter “health and happiness.”
During his tenure in the House, he served on five committees and sponsored two House bills, according to KSL-TV.
“I went to the Capitol with the pure intent of supporting, obeying, and defending the Constitutions of the United States and of Utah, and I worked my hardest to do so,” Kotter wrote in his resignation letter. “I believe that I can best serve my country and state in other capacities outside the legislature. It has been an honor to swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, and I pray that it be defended.”