SALT LAKE CITY—Many Utahns will remember Becky Edwards for the 10 years she served in the State Legislature. Now she’s taking steps to be on the national stage with the announcement of her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

“I am so pleased to be in this historic place,” said Edwards at her announcement speech at the Capitol last week. “This statue behind me has some special significance to our state and to me personally.”

Martha Hughes Cannon was the first woman elected to a state senate body in the United States, she said. “And that happened right here in Utah. She was such a devoted and powerful woman. She fought for women’s rights, was a suffragist and made sure women had the right to vote when Utah became a state.”

 Not only that, she has to be the only woman to ever defeat her own husband in an election, Edwards said. “Today I’m here – inspired by this woman and many others – to announce my candidacy for U.S. Senate. I am a Republican and I served as a Republican for 10 years. But I will represent all of Utah.”

During her time in the legislature, Edwards invited her constituents into her home for Bagels and Briefings. “Every week I learned from their stories and challenges,” she said. “I understand the importance of listening and working together to address the struggles that Utah families and businesses are facing.”

Utah is at a crossroads, said Edwards. “Our population is growing and changing. Our economy is transforming. We are facing historic challenges resulting from a global pandemic. Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones. People have also lost their jobs and lost their homes. We must meet these historic challenges head on.”

Too many politicians in Washington just aren’t listening, she said. “They’ve lost touch with Utah families. They are more concerned with their political future than your family’s future. But I’m here to be part of the solution and I invite you to join me and be part of the solution as well.”

In 2022, Utahns will have the opportunity to elect a new senator, said Edwards. “You know, I don’t take the idea of challenging a fellow Republican lightly. But more importantly, I don’t take the struggles of Utah families and businesses lightly. And our senator has for 10 years failed to deliver for our state. He put his personal political ambitions before your needs. Utah deserves so much better.”

That’s what this campaign is all about, she said. “It’s about coming together to solve problems in order to make Utah an even better, healthier, stronger and more inclusive place. It’ll take more than soundbites. It will take grit and hard work.”

Edwards shared stories of her ancestors who have inspired her. “My history includes generations of hard working Utahns,” she said. “People like my great-great-grandfather Moroni Price, a farmer, who came to Utah as a young child in a wagon train and later served in the Utah House of Representatives as a colleague of Senator Martha Hughes Cannon in 1897. People like my grandfather, Don Wagstaff, honored in the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial just outside the Capitol as a peace officer who lost his life in his service to this great state. I am proud to follow their examples of compassion and service. They guide me every day.”

This is a critical election for Utah, said Edwards. “It’s not about me or Mike Lee or any other candidate. It’s about you – your family. It’s about making our state a better place to live, work, raise a family and retire. And it’s about the hard work it will take to do just that. God bless the great state of Utah.”

Edwards is a life-long Utahn who has been in Davis County for the past 26 years. She is married to John Edwards and has four children and nine grandchildren. Edwards and her husband recently returned from a 20-month mission to American Samoa as humanitarian missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.