Evan Done launches Reflect Utah PAC to put LGBTQ+ candidates in office

New political action committee holds first fundraiser, endorses six candidates for local and statewide races

Salt Lake City advocate Evan Done launched the political action committee Reflect Utah to recruit, train, and fund LGBTQ+ candidates for public office. It held its first fundraiser this month and announced its first slate of endorsements.

Reflect Utah’s stated mission is to “identify, recruit and elevate underrepresented candidates for public office, ensuring that the diverse voices of our communities are the ones making our laws.” The group says it envisions “a Utah where every level of government mirrors the people it serves.”

This election cycle, the PAC is focusing on LGBTQ+ candidates.

“Its job is to help elect underrepresented and historically marginalized candidates for public office,” Done said in a video posted to Facebook. “This cycle, we’re really focusing on LGBTQ candidates because we want to make sure that LGBTQ candidates have the accurate representation and that the community has a seat at the tables of power.”

Done has framed the group as an alternative to traditional community fundraising events and to support from allies alone.

“Dinners and galas have their place, but they do not elect LGBTQ candidates,” he wrote in a Facebook post announcing the fundraiser. “If we want policy that truly protects our community, we cannot rely solely on supportive rhetoric from the sidelines. We need our own people in the room, holding the seats, and leading the debate. That requires real political infrastructure and direct campaign funding.”

“Allyship is essential, but it is not enough on its own,” Done said in a statement. “Representation is not symbolic. It is tactical.”

The group says it uses the money it raises for field operations, voter contact, mailers, and other campaign tools for what it calls “viable” candidates in “tough legislative races.”

The PAC’s inaugural event, titled “From Flight to Frontlines,” was held at Square Kitchen on ­National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11.

Candidates attended and spoke, including endorsee Drew ­Howells, candidate for Utah House District 39, who told his coming-out story which he tied to his first experience with the legislative process.

“In this case, Utah’s housing and employment nondiscrimination legislation,” Howells said. “Twelve years later, it’s no longer just about having a seat in the room. It’s about having a seat at the table, and having a vote that refuses to compromise on human dignity and individual worth.”

Howells thanked attendees and donors. “Your support makes it possible for more voices to be heard, more people to have a seat at the table, and for us to continue building a Utah where everyone has a place,” he wrote.

PAC Endorsements

Reflect Utah endorsed six candidates that are on this year’s general election ballot:

• Luke Maynes, Salt Lake ­County Council District 3
• David Chappell, Utah State House District 62
• Jennifer Smith, Salt Lake City School Board
• Drew Howells, Utah State House District 39
• Lacey Peterson, Utah State Board of Education
• Bo Folsom, Kane ­County Commissioner

Candidates sought the PAC’s endorsement through an application with an October 1 deadline, which thanked them for “serving the state of Utah and ensuring that the LGBTQ community is reflected by our elected officials.”

Done is a Salt Lake City advocate with more than two decades in social justice work, serves as advocacy & public policy director at Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness, and is executive director of the political action committee Friends of Recovery, Utah.

Done helped win legislation on naloxone access, Medicaid coverage and syringe-exchange programs. Gov. Spencer Cox appointed him to Utah’s Behavioral Health Commission in 2024 to represent people with lived experience of substance use disorder. He is a person in long-term recovery and describes himself as a “proud queer man.”

Done ran for the Utah Senate this year with the endorsement of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a national PAC similar to Reflect Utah, but he did not advance to the general election. Q

More information about Reflect Utah, including donation and sponsorship details, is available at reflectutah.org.