Utah Hive Politicsfrom the publisher of The Weber County HiveA grassroots challenger running on individual, small-dollar support against the sitting Speaker of the Utah House, whose personal account and three-PAC network hold more than $700,000 combined. Roy and Hooper, Weber County.
Updated Oct. 2, 2026, with legislative-record grades and Schultz's disclosure-form grade added. Earlier update Sept. 30, 2026, with Schultz's September 30th Report and Graff's contributions through Sept. 16.
Graff's campaign has raised about $4,341 in 2026, based on contributions filed through Sept. 16. About two-thirds came from individual donors, most in gifts of $5 to $100; the rest came from Democratic party groups, in-kind support and $157 of her own money. No PAC or corporate money.
Schultz's personal campaign account has raised $73,100 in 2026. $35,000 of it (48%) is his own money, given on Aug. 13; $36,100 (49%) came from companies, PACs and associations. It held $89,282.60 on Sept. 25.
Through their August reports, Schultz's personal campaign account and the three PACs he controls or has decision-making authority over — House Speaker Leadership PAC, Utah House Republican Election Committee, and Northern Wasatch HBA PAC — hold a combined ~$712,000 in cash on hand. The PACs are funded by corporate PACs, industry associations and major individual donors giving in the thousands; his personal account is now about half his own money.
These figures update our July 2, 2026 piece, "Two Funding Frameworks," which reported $989.68 for Graff and $335,150 combined for Schultz's ecosystem at that point in the cycle. Updated Sept. 30, 2026: Schultz's personal account uses his September 30th Report; Graff's figures use her contributions filed through Sept. 16; the three PACs still use their August filings.
The two candidates' funding bases look nothing alike. Toggle between them below.
Every dollar Graff has raised this cycle traces to an individual or a Democratic party committee. The largest single gift is $1,000, from Clive Walker of Layton — 23% of her total. Several donors give in recurring small amounts: Catherine McNeel gives $5 every month; Luke Maynes gives $10 every month; Pete Shay has given twice, $25 then $30.
Newest filings (Aug. 23 to Sept. 16) add $765: the Women's Democratic Club ($400); Roy and Hooper donors James Magruder ($50), Linda Rose ($50) and Peggy Milos ($60); four out-of-state donors from Missouri and Kansas ($20 to $50 each); and repeat monthly gifts from McNeel, Maynes and Jamie Prather-Newton. Jeremy A Thompson of Roy gave a second time, $25 on Aug. 23.
One donor is worth flagging for a cross-race pattern: Jeremy A Thompson gave Graff $100 on 7/23/2026 from Roy, UT — the same donor name, city, date, and amount that also appears giving to Bianca Mittendorf's HD7 campaign the same day, and to Kacee Weaver's USBE campaign the same day. Three separate Democratic-aligned candidates, one $100 gift each, all dated 7/23/2026 — this reads as a single donor deliberately spreading support across several races in one sitting, not three coincidences.
His September 30th Report (June 12 to Sept. 25, submitted Sept. 24) lists $58,600 in contributions and no spending. Besides his own $35,000, the largest checks came from Utah HOSPAC ($10,000), the Utah Association of Realtors ($4,500 in two checks) and the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association ($2,500). NUPAC, Boeing's PAC, HF Sinclair's PAC and Maverik gave $1,000 each; Doers Network, Republic Services and T-Mobile gave smaller amounts. The $1,000 listed from "State of Utah" at the Unclaimed Property Division's address is marked "Abandoned Property" on the report; it reads as returned unclaimed funds, not a donation from the state. The report header also lists him as having "Primary Decision Making Authority" for the Northern Wasatch HBA PAC.
Schultz's own leadership PAC. Raised $79,400 across the cycle so far; ending balance of $346,195 is the largest single pool of the three. Paid Irish Elk LLC (Kyle Palmer) $7,730 for "admin & fundraising fees."
Schultz is Primary Officer. Raised $253,750, spent $128,897. A single fundraiser at the Little America Hotel cost $35,224.92 in one day (1/8/2026). Paid Irish Elk LLC $30,575 in fundraising fees and PAC administration — the largest Irish Elk payment of the three PACs.
A local home-builders' PAC where Schultz has decision-making authority. Collects small checks ($50-$100) from local builders and contractors — 100% of its donor base — but has spent $0 across the entire cycle. A 6/9/2026 amendment added 20 new builder contributions and, the same day, deleted three that had already been filed: Coldwater Stone Design ($50), Amsco Windows ($50), and Generator Supercenter ($100).
Disclosure patternIN PLAIN WORDSEvery dollar each campaign reported, sorted into piles: people, caucus and leadership PACs, other organizations, party help and the candidate's own money. Bars are drawn to the same scale, so a short bar means less money. These are facts from the filings; they are shown here, not graded.
Periods differ where the filings in hand differ; each candidate's period is listed with their bar. "Own money" includes loans and money moved from the candidate's own earlier campaign account, as labeled. Disclosure-form lines come from each candidate's own form as described on this page. Added Oct. 2, 2026.
| Graff (D) | Schultz (R), personal account | |
|---|---|---|
| Raised in 2026 | About $4,341 (through 9/16) | $73,100 (through 9/25) |
| From individuals | About 68% | 1% (plus 48% his own money) |
| From PACs, parties, companies & groups | 29% (party groups & in-kind) | 49% |
| Cash on hand | Not shown on the list filed through 9/16 | $89,282.60 (9/25) |
Schultz also directs three PACs (House Speaker Leadership PAC, UHREC and Northern Wasatch HBA PAC). Their balances above come from their August filings.
Every item is graded on the same five questions used across this project: Power, Transparency, Financial accountability, Environmental impact and Community impact. A C means the record meets what Utah law requires, the status quo. A B or A means the candidate went beyond it, and the record shows it. D means something is vague or bundled, or a public check is weakened; F means something required is missing, or a check is removed with nothing in its place. On reports, one required item missing is graded D, since it can be a mistake; several missing from the same report is graded F. On disclosure forms, an item voters can't see anywhere else (a company, a board seat, a job) left off is graded D; two left off, D−; three or more, F, a pattern. Legislative pay, which is public, left off with nothing else missing is graded D+. Anything named somewhere on the form counts as listed, and a form not on file is graded F. (Disclosure-form ladder added Oct. 3, 2026.) How a grade can change: candidates can file an amended report or an updated disclosure form at any time. When the missing or unclear item is fixed on the public record, we update the grade and note the date. Feedback appreciated: candidates and readers can send corrections or records we missed to webercountyhive@gmail.com, and we check every one against the public record.
Overall is the average of the graded questions (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0; N/A and dashes are left out). A plus or minus shows where the average falls between letters, and an average exactly halfway counts toward the higher letter with a minus. Added Oct. 2, 2026.
| Candidate | Power | Transparency | Money | Environment | Community | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graff | A | C | C | N/A | C | B− |
| Why: About two-thirds of her money comes from individuals, most in gifts of $5 to $100; the rest from Democratic party groups and in-kind support. Every contributor is named. That meets the law. The money, by category (2026, filed through Sept. 16): individuals $2,934 (67.6%); caucus and leadership PACs $0 (0.0%); other organizations $0 (0.0%); party help $1,250 (28.8%). Own money: $157 (3.6% of everything raised). Own money is stated here, not graded. Power A: 100.0% of the counted money came from individual people (the $1,250 from Democratic party groups and in-kind help is counted as party help). Regraded Oct. 2, 2026 on the Hive's fixed scale; earlier: C, then B under the grassroots rule earlier today. Scale: A = 90% or more of the counted money from individual people; B = 67–89%; C = 34–66%; D = 10–33%; F = under 10%. Counted money is individuals plus caucus and leadership PACs plus other organizations (businesses, trade and union PACs, other candidates' campaigns). Ordinary party help and the candidate's own money are shown but not counted. | ||||||
| Schultz | F | D | C | N/A | D | D |
| Why: His own account is funded by himself (48%) and by companies, PACs and associations (49%); one individual other than Schultz gave, $1,000. He also directs three PACs that held more than $680,000 in August and fund other candidates. A $5,000 contribution is listed from "PAC Management Services" (VIPGateKeeper), a platform that passes along money from donors who are not named on Utah's report. The money, by category (2026 through Sept. 25, his personal campaign account): individuals $1,000 (1.4%); caucus and leadership PACs not broken out on the filings in hand; other organizations $36,100 (49.4%); party help $0 (0.0%); unclaimed funds returned by the State of Utah $1,000 (1.4%). Own money: $35,000 (47.9% of everything raised) (Aug. 13). Own money is stated here, not graded. Power F: 2.7% of the counted money came from individual people. Regraded Oct. 2, 2026 on the Hive's fixed scale; earlier: D. Scale: A = 90% or more of the counted money from individual people; B = 67–89%; C = 34–66%; D = 10–33%; F = under 10%. Counted money is individuals plus caucus and leadership PACs plus other organizations (businesses, trade and union PACs, other candidates' campaigns). Ordinary party help and the candidate's own money are shown but not counted. What would have scored higher for the collective: Naming the donors behind the VIPGateKeeper contribution, and a base of district donors. | ||||||
Going beyond the law would look like: saying what each "Campaign Expense" payment bought, and raising most of the money from people who live in the district. (On the state's public report, most spending lines show only the category "Campaign Expense." Candidates can type a description when they file, but the public report may not display it, so a missing description there doesn't mean the candidate left it out.)
| Candidate | Power | Transparency | Money | Environment | Community | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schultz | N/A | F | D | N/A | N/A | F |
| Why: His 2026 form lists 25 entities, says he is "Owner in all entities," and answers "None" to the board question. Utah's business registry lists roles that are not on it: director of Village at the Bluff Homeowners Association (with Mike Bastian and Leslie Harris), officer of Coles Crossing Homeowners Association, sole manager of Syracuse Land Investments, LLC, and sole member of Eastgate Affinity, LLC, all active. Kapp Auto appears only as an income source, though the registry lists his Mike Schultz Inc. as a member. Several required items missing from the same filing is graded F. For comparison, his 2019 form listed two board seats (NWHBA and First National Bank), so the board question has been answered with entries before. His seat on the Inland Port Authority board while his 2023 form said "None" is left out of this grade, because whether an ex officio state-board seat must be listed is not settled. His House bio says he stepped away from homebuilding in 2023; the form still lists Castle Creek Homes and Mike Schultz Construction as owned and as income sources. His legislative pay as a sitting representative and House speaker in 2025, the year the form covers, is not listed anywhere on the form. Under the Hive's ladder that doesn't change an F; it is named here. Checked Oct. 3, 2026. What would have scored higher for the collective: listing every entity and board the registry shows for him, by its registered name, and using the optional section to say which of his housing businesses are affected by the housing, zoning and tax-increment laws the House he leads writes. | ||||||
| Graff | N/A | B | C | N/A | N/A | B |
| Why: Her form lists her employer (On Pitch Performing Arts, Layton, where she is an intimacy director for theater productions), no businesses, income sources of $5,000 or more, or stocks, and her seat on the Roy City Planning Commission, which recommends zoning and annexation decisions to the City Council and decides some land-use applications. She also lists her husband's employers (BAE Systems Inc. and the U.S. Air Force Reserves; previously the Air Force), which the form asks for only if the filer sees a possible conflict. That goes beyond what the form requires. Her income line is left blank while her job is named on the form; because the job is named, that is noted here, not graded. What would have scored higher for the collective: saying in the optional section how she would handle votes on land use or defense-related matters, given her planning seat and her husband's employer. | ||||||
How the forms were read: Graff's form as filed text pasted from disclosures.utah.gov on Oct. 2, 2026. Schultz's form: the 2026 form's text as captured by the Hive (business-portfolio research, summer 2026); registry roles from Utah Division of Corporations records as captured then. Going beyond the law would look like: listing more than the form asks, such as a spouse's business or unpaid roles, as Kay McRae did in Senate District 20.
| Candidate | Power | Transparency | Money | Environment | Community | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schultz | D | D | C | C | D | D |
| Why: He voted for H.B. 392 (56–15–4). His 2023 HB 491 created a Great Salt Lake Commissioner with no authority over water rights, added a new protected-records category to the state records law, and had its funding cut from $40 million to $10 million at the Senate stage with no reason in the minutes; it also created real lake governance and a fund, with the dollar figures disclosed in each version. His 2026 HB 274 adds Sentencing Commission seats. HB 563 is still pending. What would have scored higher for the collective: giving the Great Salt Lake Commissioner standing on water-rights decisions, with no new records exemption, and recording the reason for the funding cut. | ||||||
Graded only from the bills and votes this page and the Hive's research documents. “—” means not enough of the record is documented yet to grade that question fairly. The challenger has not held this office, so there is no record to grade. Added Oct. 2, 2026.
Beyond what Schultz's PACs raise, the record shows where it flows once it arrives — a consulting fee here, a network candidate there, and one unresolved, unusual line item.
Kyle Palmer's consulting firm was paid $38,305 combined across House Speaker Leadership PAC ($7,730) and Utah House Republican Election Committee ($30,575), coded as "fundraising fees" and "PAC administration." Palmer's firm and PAC network already appears across multiple other Weber County candidate files this cycle.
Cross-reference: Tracking the Capital →UHREC paid $283.36 to Election Hive, a statewide political consulting and money-processing firm run by Matthew K. Lusty, coded "Advertising." Election Hive is not Schultz's own entity — it serves dozens of clients from Gov. Cox (its largest documented client, with six-figure single-day payments) down to county-level candidates. The firm filed zero annual reports between October 2019 and June 2024 while an estimated $270,000+ moved through it in 2023 alone and $1.54 million+ in 2024.
Cross-reference (unpublished — no case file or article yet)Schultz's personal campaign account received $5,000 on 3/10/2026 from "PAC Management Services," Fairfax, Virginia. The firm does business as VIPGateKeeper — a real-time donation platform where wealthy "VIP" donors pre-fund an account and pre-approved "Gatekeeper" advisors push contributions to candidates on demand. That means the true source of the $5,000 is an unnamed VIP donor whose identity never has to appear on Utah's public disclosure. The same entity gave Rep. Jason Thompson (HD 3) $250 sixteen days later, on 3/26/2026 — a national search of state and federal campaign-finance databases turned up no other public record of this platform giving to any candidate anywhere else. Schultz and Thompson appear to be its only two documented recipients in the country.
Cross-referenceSchultz's PACs don't just accumulate cash — they redistribute it to a consistent slate of allied candidates. Across both PACs and both reporting periods:
Schultz's personal campaign account made two payments coded as "Donations" and "Advertising" directly to municipal governments — $5,000 to Hooper City (3/19/2026) and $2,500 to West Haven City (3/19/2026), same date. Campaign finance filings don't explain what these payments actually purchased; city council minutes, agendas, or budget records — separate public records from the campaign disclosure — would be the next place to check before characterizing what a sitting House Speaker's campaign account paid two city governments for.
Schultz has represented HD 12 since 2015 and has served as Speaker of the Utah House since November 2023, succeeding Brad Wilson. He's a real estate developer and president of Castle Creek Homes, a lifelong resident of Hooper, Roy, and West Haven.
Separately from this campaign-finance ecosystem, Schultz personally donated $120,000 to Preserving Utah Values PAC on Nov. 30, 2025 — reported as the PAC's sole financial backer. That PAC ran anti-transgender attack ads against more than a dozen Democratic candidates in the 2024 cycle, including messaging that helped target Rosemary Lesser, who lost her HD10 seat by 309 votes.
Schultz chief-sponsored three numbered bills in the 2026 session. Sentencing Amendments (HB 274, floor sponsor Sen. Michael K. McKell) and the Statewide Catalyst Campus Model (HB 447, floor sponsor Sen. Ann Millner) both passed and were signed into law. Ballot Title Amendments (HB 563, floor sponsor Senate President J. Stuart Adams) remains filed in the House and has not passed. A fourth bill, Occupational Licensing Revisions, was abandoned before it received a number. He also cosponsored several bills that passed, including the State Sovereignty Fund (HB 464) and Drug Trafficking Amendments (HB 087), and cosponsored two that did not pass this session: a resolution on transitioning people from government benefits to self-reliance (HCR 8) and a bill banning foreign funding in ballot propositions and elections (HB 393).
HB 274's floor sponsor, Sen. McKell, also carried HB 392 and HB 366 as Senate sponsor — the bills that created Utah's new three-judge constitutional panels as part of the broader 2026 judicial-reform package (SB 134, HB 392, HB 366, SB 233, HB 540). When the Utah State Bar warned HB 366 could "threaten judicial stability," Schultz told KUER he was "confident in our constitutional authority to do what we've done."
Schultz sits on the Business and Labor Interim Committee, Executive Appropriations Committee, House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee, House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee, and the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee, and chairs the Legislative Management Committee.
Schultz's campaign site says government should create the conditions for people and businesses to thrive "and then get out of the way," crediting himself with passing the largest tax cut in Utah's history and pledging to keep fighting government regulation and "unnecessary government red tape." His site's Federalism page frames him as a defender of the Constitution against "corrupt special interest groups," pledging his loyalty is to the Constitution and to voters.
The bill titles line up closely with his own campaign language: he cosponsored the "State Sovereignty Fund" (signed into law) and a resolution on transitioning residents "from government benefits to self-reliance" — both echoing his site's federalism and self-reliance messaging almost word for word.
At the same time, his own record includes expanding rather than shrinking state judicial and prosecutorial infrastructure — HB 274 adds seats to the Sentencing Commission, and the broader judicial-reform stack he publicly defended expands the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals while giving the governor more appointment control.
His messaging about guarding against "special interest groups" sits alongside a campaign-finance ecosystem funded almost entirely by corporate PACs, industry associations, and major individual donors giving $5,000 to $15,000 at a time — Utah Bankers Association, Larry H Miller Company, HOALiving Holdings LLC, and PacifiCorp among them.
Graff describes on her campaign site becoming a single parent roughly a decade ago after leaving an abusive marriage, and says navigating housing instability and her family's needs during that period shaped her focus on accessible community resources. She later married her husband, an active-duty Air Force officer, built a career in the arts, and became involved in community advocacy before joining her city's Planning Commission.
Graff serves on her city's Planning Commission and describes speaking on bills during past Utah Legislative Sessions as a resident. This is her first run for state office; there is no legislative voting record to compare against her platform.
Her campaign site names four priorities: Preserving the State, Housing & Affordability, Promoting Accessibility, and Oversight & Accountability. On accessibility, she argues that designing for people facing the highest barriers improves the experience for everyone, and that the issue extends beyond ADA-required physical access to website design, access to public records, transportation, and medical care — noting that many areas of life remain exempt or grandfathered in, and that upgrade costs can put compliance out of reach even for a small business that wants to make them. On oversight, she points to public-funds programs and the checks and balances across the judicial, legislative, and executive branches, saying she wants to "strengthen our avenues to ensure accountability, not protections from responsibility." She frames her campaign around amplifying the perspectives of groups including people with disabilities, single parents, military families, minorities, retirees, young families, students, and unhoused residents.
Graff is running her campaign on individual and small-dollar support, with contributions ranging from $1 to $1,000 and several recurring monthly donors giving $5-$10 at a time.
Utah Hive Politicsfrom the publisher of The Weber County HiveIndependent · Accountability · Journalism