Political newcomer Stephanie Hollist defeated Utah Senate President Stuart Adams in what was considered one of the biggest surprises from the primary election. Hollist, an attorney and mother of four who has lived in Davis County most of her life, entered the race with little prior name recognition.
The planned Stratos data center in Box Elder County is widely believed to have been a significant factor in the election. Adams had been a ground-level supporter of the controversial project through his role as a board member of MIDA, a quasi-state agency that initially approved the data center.
Hollist expressed concerns regarding how government decisions are communicated to the public. She stated that many decisions are made without being shared and noted that when transparency does occur, the outcomes are often not what residents would have wanted.
Despite her criticisms of the rollout process, Hollist indicated she is not opposed to the project entirely. She remarked that the project was not well planned or carried out and expressed a need for more answers. When asked if she had a hard no on the Stratos project, she replied that it was not a hard no.
