Jonathan Larsen

[{"question": "Ballotpedia survey responses", "answer_html": "<p>See also: <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a></p>\n<div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-xs-10 col-md-6 col-xs-offset-1 col-md-offset-3\"><p><a href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\"><img align=\"middle\" alt=\"Candidate Connection\" src=\"https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/8/88/Candidate_Connection_Logo.png\" width=\"90%\"/></a></p></div></div>\n<p>Jonny Larsen completed <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a> survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Larsen's responses.</p>\n<p><span class=\"expand-all\">Expand all</span> | <span class=\"collapse-all\">Collapse all</span></p>\n<div aria-multiselectable=\"true\" class=\"panel-group\" id=\"accordion\" role=\"tablist\"><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-bio-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading-bio-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse-bio-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-bio-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWho are you? Tell us about yourself.\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading-bio-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse-bio-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tJonny Larsen is a Marine combat veteran who grew up in a Salt Lake City trailer park before his mother abandoned him to a group home at thirteen. His grandmother took him in, and her union pension and Social Security shaped his belief in the programs that keep working families afloat. With the help of a tight knit community that stepped in to raise him, he enlisted in the Marines at seventeen.\r\n<p>After the Marines, he built a career as a Senior Systems and Network Administrator before using his GI Bill to study applied math and physics at the University of Utah. He ran out of funding before finishing, a reminder that education should be accessible to everyone willing to put in the work.\r\n</p>\nToday he lives in Salt Lake City with his Great Dane Duke and three cats he rescued as kittens. He does most of the work on his own home, has raised backyard hens, and has been a beekeeper on and off for over a decade. The oath he took to this country never expired, and like any Marine he believes that nobody gets left behind.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading-key-message-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse-key-message-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tPlease list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading-key-message-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse-key-message-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><ul><li>Families across Utah's 4th District are getting crushed by the cost of groceries, gas, housing, and healthcare. People are working two and three jobs and still falling behind. Rural communities are losing access to hospitals and clinics. Seniors are choosing between medication and rent. The system is not broken by accident. It is rigged to benefit corrupt corporations and billionaires at the expense of everyone else. Jonny will work hard for the people to bring down the cost of living, protect Medicare and Social Security, make home ownership possible again, and ensure healthcare is accessible to everyone. Nobody gets left behind.</li><li>Jonny started working at twelve delivering newspapers for the Deseret News, worked at Crossroads Mall at fourteen, and was the night supervisor at Cinnabon by sixteen. As the grandson of a Teamster, he understands working families fund the programs that keep this country running, from veteran benefits to Social Security, and they deserve wages that let them live, not just survive. Jonny will work hard to ensure fair wages, labor's right to organize, and an economy that rewards work instead of the corrupt wealthy. He is grassroots funded because he answers to voters, not corrupt billionaires. Jonny will work to ban stock trading for all elected officials, repeal Citizens United, and hold the corrupt accountable to the Constitution.</li><li>Utah's 4th District has over 30,000 veterans, four military installations, and tens of thousands of military families. Veterans in rural counties like Tooele, Sevier, and Sanpete have no local VA clinic and drive over three hours to the Salt Lake VA for basic care. That is not a system. That is abandonment. Jonny is a combat veteran, a VA patient, and a cancer survivor treated by the VA. He knows what works and what fails because he has lived it. He will fight for local VA care, work to restore the nearly 100,000 VA staff this administration fired, remove Sec. Doug Collins, and protect veteran benefits from the rules Collins added. Marines do not leave anyone behind.</li></ul></span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading1-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse1-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading1-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse1-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tVeteran healthcare and VA reform. The cost of living, including groceries, gas, housing, and healthcare. Fair wages and labor's right to organize. Public lands, water policy, and the Great Salt Lake. Rural hospital funding and PILT funding. Education access and STEM funding. Ending corruption in Congress, including stock trading bans, lobbying reform, and repealing Citizens United. Defending the Constitution and the separation of powers. Immigration reform that is firm, fair, and humane. Equal rights for every American regardless of where they come from or what they believe. Nobody gets left behind.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse2-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading2-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse2-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse2-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWho do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading2-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse2-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tMy grandmother. She worked her entire career at PIE Trucking as a proud Teamster, retired with a union pension, lived to 102 years old, and raised me. She taught me more about service, self reliance, and looking out for other people than anyone in politics ever has. Everything I am running on comes from what she showed me by how she lived, how she loved me, and continued to make self sacrifices for what she cared about deeply.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse3-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading3-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse3-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse3-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading3-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse3-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tIntegrity. Not the word on a bumper sticker, but the kind where you do the right thing when nobody is watching. Self accountability, meaning you own your mistakes and hold the corrupt accountable when they fail the people they serve. Strength in empathy, the willingness to understand someone else's life before you make decisions that affect it. My grandmother instilled these in me to be the man I am today.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse4-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading4-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse4-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse4-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading4-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse4-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tDefend the Constitution. Represent the people who elected you, not the corrupt corporations that fund our current representatives. Show up, listen, and be honest even when it is not convenient. A member of Congress works for their constituents. That means knowing what your constituents need and being transparent about what you are doing and why. The oath of office is not ceremonial. It is a contract. Nobody gets left behind.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse5-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading5-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse5-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse5-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat legacy would you like to leave?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading5-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse5-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tThat I fought for people who needed it and never sold out. That veterans in Utah got the care they earned. That working families had someone in their corner who actually understood their lives. I do not need a building named after me. I need to know that the kid growing up in a trailer park right now, wondering if anyone gives a damn, has a better shot than I did. Nobody gets left behind.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse6-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading6-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse6-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse6-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat was your very first job? How long did you have it?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading6-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse6-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tI delivered newspapers for the Deseret News starting at twelve years old. At fourteen I worked at Crossroads Mall in the food court, and by sixteen I was the night supervisor at Cinnabon until early 2000.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse7-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading7-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse7-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse7-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat is something that has been a struggle in your life?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading7-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse7-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tMy friends coined it \"Larsen luck\", aka the worst best luck. Being abused, going through foster care and group homes, deploying to Iraq twice as a Marine infantryman, and dealing with cancer. Every one of those should have broken me. None of them did. They are the reason I fight for people going through their own version of the same thing.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse8-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading8-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse8-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse8-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading8-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse8-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tReuniting the country, fixing the constitutional crisis we are in, and ensuring that Congress serves the people instead of corrupt corporations and the wealthy.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse9-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading9-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse9-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse9-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tDo you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading9-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse9-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tYes. The Constitution itself was a compromise. Nothing worth building gets done without people who disagree sitting down and finding common ground. That does not mean abandoning your principles. It means being honest about what you will fight for, what you will negotiate on, and what you will never give up. In the Marines we worked with people from every background and every political belief because the mission required it. Congress should operate the same way. The people I want to represent are not all Democrats. They are working families, veterans, and rural communities who need results, not gridlock.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse10-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading10-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse10-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse10-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading10-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse10-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tCenter for Freethought Equality. <br/>\r\nUtah Democratic Caucuses: Veterans, Labor, Progressive, Stonewall, Young Dems, and AANHPI.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse11-353717-2026-05-18\" id=\"heading11-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse11-353717-2026-05-18\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse11-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading11-353717-2026-05-18\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse11-353717-2026-05-18\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tI was stationed in Washington, D.C., and I was 19 years old when I witnessed the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. I was part of the first honor guard at Ground Zero in New York City. I deployed to Iraq twice; first with 3rd Battalion 4th Marines where we tore down Saddam's statue, and I returned again with 3rd Battalion 7th Marines and fought in the Battle of Husaybah, a precursor to the 1st Fallujah conflict.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div></div>\n<div class=\"small\" data-nosnippet=\"\"><p><i><b>Note:</b> Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.</i></p></div>\n<div><div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5rem\"><h4>Campaign website</h4><p>Larsen's campaign website stated the following:</p><div style=\"max-height:400px;overflow-y:auto;border:1px solid #ccc;padding:10px;margin:20px\"><blockquote style=\"margin:0px\"><p>Affordability</p><p>Utah families are getting squeezed from every direction while corporations and billionaires get tax breaks. Home prices have doubled since 2013. A family in South Jordan needs $180,000 in income just to buy a median home. That is not a housing market. That is a system rigged against you.</p><p><br/></p><p>Healthcare That Works for Families</p><p>Insurance companies make billions deciding who gets care and who gets a bill they will never pay off. Rural hospitals across Utah face losing 21 cents of every Medicaid dollar, and veterans in Sevier and Millard counties drive two hours each way for a basic appointment.</p><p><br/></p><p>When I was diagnosed with cancer, the VA took care of me. That is exactly how it should work. Nobody should go without the care they need. I will hold insurance companies accountable, expand rural access, bring prescription drug costs under control, and push for a VA clinic where communities need one.</p><p><br/></p><p>A Home You Can Actually Buy</p><p>Home prices in Utah have doubled since 2013 while wages barely kept pace. The median home in Sandy costs $664,000. In Draper, it is $960,000. Institutional investors keep buying homes that working families need. 88 percent of Utah renters cannot afford to become homeowners.</p><p><br/></p><p>Homeownership builds community. You get to know your neighbors. That is a Utah value worth fighting for. I will fight to stop corporations from buying single family homes as investments, protect first-time buyers, and bring housing costs down so the next generation gets their share of the American dream.</p><p><br/></p><p>The Cost of Living Squeeze</p><p>Tariffs are driving up groceries, clothes, and farm equipment. Childcare for an infant costs over $11,000 a year in Utah. Gas prices spike every time politicians start a conflict with no exit plan. While your costs climb, Washington added $5 trillion to the debt, with the biggest tax cuts going to those who need them least.</p><p><br/></p><p>Working families did not cause this and should not pay for it. I will fight to lower everyday costs, oppose trade policies that punish consumers, and make sure tax dollars go to the people who need them, not the corporations and billionaires who do not.</p><p><br/></p><p>Working Class Republic</p><p>This country was built by working people. Somewhere along the way, the rules got rewritten to benefit the ones at the top. CEO pay has gone up over 1,000 percent since 1978. Worker pay went up 26 percent. It is time to rewrite those rules back.</p><p><br/></p><p>Your Work Should Pay for Your Life</p><p>Nobody working full time should need a second or third job just to survive. Wages in Utah have barely kept pace with inflation. After adjusting for rising costs, the average worker gained about a penny an hour between 2020 and 2023. Meanwhile, CEO pay has gone up over 1,000 percent since 1978.</p><p><br/></p><p>My grandmother worked hard her entire life. Her union pension and benefits meant she could raise me with dignity instead of desperation. Every worker deserves that same shot. I will fight for wages that let families live, not just scrape by, and spend time with your loved ones.</p><p><br/></p><p>The Right to Organize</p><p>The labor movement built the American middle class. Social Security, the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, workplace safety laws, and the minimum wage all exist because working people fought for them. My grandmother was a Teamster. That union gave her family stability.</p><p><br/></p><p>Utah has a deep labor history. Miners at Bingham Canyon, railroad workers at Promontory Summit, and the 200 men and boys killed in the Scofield Mine disaster all fought for the dignity workers deserve today. The right to organize is not a relic. It is how working people hold power. I will always defend it.</p><p><br/></p><p>Public Lands and Rural Jobs</p><p>Our public lands are not for sale. They are the economic backbone of every rural county in this district. PILT payments bring in roughly $15 to $18 million a year, funding schools, roads, and emergency services. Ranchers depend on federal grazing permits that cost a fraction of private rates. Outdoor recreation supports over 75,000 jobs statewide.</p><p><br/></p><p>Politicians like Mike Lee and Celeste Maloy tried to sell off millions of acres of our public lands and lost. I will keep public lands public, fully fund PILT, protect grazing access, and make sure rural communities keep the resources they depend on.</p><p><br/></p><p>Accountability</p><p>In the Marine Corps, leaders are held to the highest standard. You answer for your decisions. Congress should work the same way. The people we send to Washington should answer to us, not to lobbyists, not to their stock portfolios, and not to the billionaires writing their checks.</p><p><br/></p><p>Immigration Reform That Works</p><p>The immigration system is broken. Corporations exploit visa programs to undercut American workers and drive down wages.</p><p><br/></p><p>We do not need masked agents terrorizing communities. We need a system that is fair, enforceable, and holds corporations accountable when they profit from broken immigration law. Reform means fixing it from the top down, not punishing people at the bottom. I will push for real reform that secures the border, creates workable pathways, and stops corporations from exploiting American workers.</p><p><br/></p><p>End Corruption in Congress</p><p>Corporations are not people. Citizens United opened the floodgates to unlimited money. Billionaires buy politicians while politicians protect billionaires. That is not democracy. That is a transaction.</p><p><br/></p><p>Members of Congress should not trade stocks on information the rest of us do not have. I support banning congressional stock trading and overturning Citizens United. This campaign is grassroots-funded because I answer to Utah's 4th District, not corporate donors. When your representative takes their money, they work for them. I work for you first and foremost!</p><p><br/></p><p>Defending the Constitution</p><p>I swore an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. No president, no party, and no corporation gets to override it. Executive overreach is not strength. It is the opposite of what this country was built on.</p><p><br/></p><p>That oath drives everything I do. It is why I will fight to protect Social Security and Medicare for the 99,000 beneficiaries in this district. It is why I will hold any administration accountable when they overstep. And it is why veterans like me do not need a briefing to understand what is at stake. We swore to protect it.</p><p><br/></p><p>Utah Values</p><p>Utah is not just where we live. It is who we are. From protecting the rights of every Utahn to preserving the land and water that sustain our communities, these are the values worth standing for. Every person in this state deserves dignity, and every community deserves a representative who will show up for them.</p><p><br/></p><p>Equal Rights for Every Utahn</p><p>The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1923. A century later, we still have not ratified it. That tells you everything about Washington.</p><p><br/></p><p>Women deserve equal pay and full control over their own healthcare decisions. That is between a woman and her doctor. Not a politician and a lobbyist. LGBTQ+ and transgender Utahns deserve the same protections everyone else has. No child should walk into school feeling unsafe because of who they are. Every kid deserves to grow up knowing their community has their back. Equality for all!</p><p><br/></p><p>The Great Salt Lake and Agriculture</p><p>The black outline on this satellite image shows where the Great Salt Lake stood in 1987. When the lakebed dries, the dust carries arsenic into the lungs of Wasatch Front families.</p><p><br/></p><p>Ranchers and farmers are stuck under \"use it or lose it\" water laws that punish conservation. Alfalfa and hay use 68 percent of the state's diverted water, much exported overseas. I will push for federal support to help farmers invest in underground irrigation that cuts usage by 30 to 70 percent and protect farmland from forced sales. Investing in farmers over billionaires is investing in America.</p><p><br/></p><p>Our Kids Deserve Better Than Last Place</p><p>Utah ranks dead last in the country for per-pupil education spending. Last. That is not something any of us should accept. Our teachers are underpaid, classrooms are overcrowded, and politicians want to divert public school funding to private voucher programs with zero accountability.</p><p><br/></p><p>Every child in this district deserves a quality education regardless of their zip code. I will fight to protect public school funding, support our teachers, and make sure that when families pay taxes for education, those dollars actually reach the classroom.</p><p><br/></p><p>Standing with Utah Veterans</p><p>In 2025, the VA lost 1,000 physicians, 1,500 schedulers, and 3,000 nurses. Doug Collins calls it reorganization. Veterans waiting months for a basic appointment call it abandonment.</p><p><br/></p><p>The VA does not need fewer people. It needs the right people in the right places. Mental health providers are stretched past capacity. Homeless veterans get shuffled into shelters that treat them like cases, not people. The VA should have dedicated housing built around recovery, not red tape. I will fight to restore VA staffing, expand mental health access, and get veterans back on their feet.</p></blockquote><div style=\"text-align: right; font-size: 0.9em; color: #555; margin-top: 0.5em;\"><p style=\"font-size:0.9em;color:#555\">— Jonny Larsen's <a href=\"https://jonnyutah4congress.com/the-commitment#veterans-support\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">campaign website</a> (April 10, 2026)</p></div></div></div><div style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0.5em;\"><i>Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.</i></div></div>", "answer_text": "See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection\n\nJonny Larsen completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Larsen's responses.\nExpand all | Collapse all\nWho are you? Tell us about yourself. Jonny Larsen is a Marine combat veteran who grew up in a Salt Lake City trailer park before his mother abandoned him to a group home at thirteen. His grandmother took him in, and her union pension and Social Security shaped his belief in the programs that keep working families afloat. With the help of a tight knit community that stepped in to raise him, he enlisted in the Marines at seventeen. After the Marines, he built a career as a Senior Systems and Network Administrator before using his GI Bill to study applied math and physics at the University of Utah. He ran out of funding before finishing, a reminder that education should be accessible to everyone willing to put in the work. Today he lives in Salt Lake City with his Great Dane Duke and three cats he rescued as kittens. He does most of the work on his own home, has raised backyard hens, and has been a beekeeper on and off for over a decade. The oath he took to this country never expired, and like any Marine he believes that nobody gets left behind. Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office? Families across Utah's 4th District are getting crushed by the cost of groceries, gas, housing, and healthcare. People are working two and three jobs and still falling behind. Rural communities are losing access to hospitals and clinics. Seniors are choosing between medication and rent. The system is not broken by accident. It is rigged to benefit corrupt corporations and billionaires at the expense of everyone else. Jonny will work hard for the people to bring down the cost of living, protect Medicare and Social Security, make home ownership possible again, and ensure healthcare is accessible to everyone. Nobody gets left behind. Jonny started working at twelve delivering newspapers for the Deseret News, worked at Crossroads Mall at fourteen, and was the night supervisor at Cinnabon by sixteen. As the grandson of a Teamster, he understands working families fund the programs that keep this country running, from veteran benefits to Social Security, and they deserve wages that let them live, not just survive. Jonny will work hard to ensure fair wages, labor's right to organize, and an economy that rewards work instead of the corrupt wealthy. He is grassroots funded because he answers to voters, not corrupt billionaires. Jonny will work to ban stock trading for all elected officials, repeal Citizens United, and hold the corrupt accountable to the Constitution. Utah's 4th District has over 30,000 veterans, four military installations, and tens of thousands of military families. Veterans in rural counties like Tooele, Sevier, and Sanpete have no local VA clinic and drive over three hours to the Salt Lake VA for basic care. That is not a system. That is abandonment. Jonny is a combat veteran, a VA patient, and a cancer survivor treated by the VA. He knows what works and what fails because he has lived it. He will fight for local VA care, work to restore the nearly 100,000 VA staff this administration fired, remove Sec. Doug Collins, and protect veteran benefits from the rules Collins added. Marines do not leave anyone behind. What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Veteran healthcare and VA reform. The cost of living, including groceries, gas, housing, and healthcare. Fair wages and labor's right to organize. Public lands, water policy, and the Great Salt Lake. Rural hospital funding and PILT funding. Education access and STEM funding. Ending corruption in Congress, including stock trading bans, lobbying reform, and repealing Citizens United. Defending the Constitution and the separation of powers. Immigration reform that is firm, fair, and humane. Equal rights for every American regardless of where they come from or what they believe. Nobody gets left behind. Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why? My grandmother. She worked her entire career at PIE Trucking as a proud Teamster, retired with a union pension, lived to 102 years old, and raised me. She taught me more about service, self reliance, and looking out for other people than anyone in politics ever has. Everything I am running on comes from what she showed me by how she lived, how she loved me, and continued to make self sacrifices for what she cared about deeply. What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official? Integrity. Not the word on a bumper sticker, but the kind where you do the right thing when nobody is watching. Self accountability, meaning you own your mistakes and hold the corrupt accountable when they fail the people they serve. Strength in empathy, the willingness to understand someone else's life before you make decisions that affect it. My grandmother instilled these in me to be the man I am today. What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office? Defend the Constitution. Represent the people who elected you, not the corrupt corporations that fund our current representatives. Show up, listen, and be honest even when it is not convenient. A member of Congress works for their constituents. That means knowing what your constituents need and being transparent about what you are doing and why. The oath of office is not ceremonial. It is a contract. Nobody gets left behind. What legacy would you like to leave? That I fought for people who needed it and never sold out. That veterans in Utah got the care they earned. That working families had someone in their corner who actually understood their lives. I do not need a building named after me. I need to know that the kid growing up in a trailer park right now, wondering if anyone gives a damn, has a better shot than I did. Nobody gets left behind. What was your very first job? How long did you have it? I delivered newspapers for the Deseret News starting at twelve years old. At fourteen I worked at Crossroads Mall in the food court, and by sixteen I was the night supervisor at Cinnabon until early 2000. What is something that has been a struggle in your life? My friends coined it \"Larsen luck\", aka the worst best luck. Being abused, going through foster care and group homes, deploying to Iraq twice as a Marine infantryman, and dealing with cancer. Every one of those should have broken me. None of them did. They are the reason I fight for people going through their own version of the same thing. What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade? Reuniting the country, fixing the constitutional crisis we are in, and ensuring that Congress serves the people instead of corrupt corporations and the wealthy. Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking? Yes. The Constitution itself was a compromise. Nothing worth building gets done without people who disagree sitting down and finding common ground. That does not mean abandoning your principles. It means being honest about what you will fight for, what you will negotiate on, and what you will never give up. In the Marines we worked with people from every background and every political belief because the mission required it. Congress should operate the same way. The people I want to represent are not all Democrats. They are working families, veterans, and rural communities who need results, not gridlock. What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign? Center for Freethought Equality. Utah Democratic Caucuses: Veterans, Labor, Progressive, Stonewall, Young Dems, and AANHPI. What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? I was stationed in Washington, D.C., and I was 19 years old when I witnessed the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. I was part of the first honor guard at Ground Zero in New York City. I deployed to Iraq twice; first with 3rd Battalion 4th Marines where we tore down Saddam's statue, and I returned again with 3rd Battalion 7th Marines and fought in the Battle of Husaybah, a precursor to the 1st Fallujah conflict.\nNote: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.\nCampaign website Larsen's campaign website stated the following: Affordability Utah families are getting squeezed from every direction while corporations and billionaires get tax breaks. Home prices have doubled since 2013. A family in South Jordan needs $180,000 in income just to buy a median home. That is not a housing market. That is a system rigged against you. Healthcare That Works for Families Insurance companies make billions deciding who gets care and who gets a bill they will never pay off. Rural hospitals across Utah face losing 21 cents of every Medicaid dollar, and veterans in Sevier and Millard counties drive two hours each way for a basic appointment. When I was diagnosed with cancer, the VA took care of me. That is exactly how it should work. Nobody should go without the care they need. I will hold insurance companies accountable, expand rural access, bring prescription drug costs under control, and push for a VA clinic where communities need one. A Home You Can Actually Buy Home prices in Utah have doubled since 2013 while wages barely kept pace. The median home in Sandy costs $664,000. In Draper, it is $960,000. Institutional investors keep buying homes that working families need. 88 percent of Utah renters cannot afford to become homeowners. Homeownership builds community. You get to know your neighbors. That is a Utah value worth fighting for. I will fight to stop corporations from buying single family homes as investments, protect first-time buyers, and bring housing costs down so the next generation gets their share of the American dream. The Cost of Living Squeeze Tariffs are driving up groceries, clothes, and farm equipment. Childcare for an infant costs over $11,000 a year in Utah. Gas prices spike every time politicians start a conflict with no exit plan. While your costs climb, Washington added $5 trillion to the debt, with the biggest tax cuts going to those who need them least. Working families did not cause this and should not pay for it. I will fight to lower everyday costs, oppose trade policies that punish consumers, and make sure tax dollars go to the people who need them, not the corporations and billionaires who do not. Working Class Republic This country was built by working people. Somewhere along the way, the rules got rewritten to benefit the ones at the top. CEO pay has gone up over 1,000 percent since 1978. Worker pay went up 26 percent. It is time to rewrite those rules back. Your Work Should Pay for Your Life Nobody working full time should need a second or third job just to survive. Wages in Utah have barely kept pace with inflation. After adjusting for rising costs, the average worker gained about a penny an hour between 2020 and 2023. Meanwhile, CEO pay has gone up over 1,000 percent since 1978. My grandmother worked hard her entire life. Her union pension and benefits meant she could raise me with dignity instead of desperation. Every worker deserves that same shot. I will fight for wages that let families live, not just scrape by, and spend time with your loved ones. The Right to Organize The labor movement built the American middle class. Social Security, the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, workplace safety laws, and the minimum wage all exist because working people fought for them. My grandmother was a Teamster. That union gave her family stability. Utah has a deep labor history. Miners at Bingham Canyon, railroad workers at Promontory Summit, and the 200 men and boys killed in the Scofield Mine disaster all fought for the dignity workers deserve today. The right to organize is not a relic. It is how working people hold power. I will always defend it. Public Lands and Rural Jobs Our public lands are not for sale. They are the economic backbone of every rural county in this district. PILT payments bring in roughly $15 to $18 million a year, funding schools, roads, and emergency services. Ranchers depend on federal grazing permits that cost a fraction of private rates. Outdoor recreation supports over 75,000 jobs statewide. Politicians like Mike Lee and Celeste Maloy tried to sell off millions of acres of our public lands and lost. I will keep public lands public, fully fund PILT, protect grazing access, and make sure rural communities keep the resources they depend on. Accountability In the Marine Corps, leaders are held to the highest standard. You answer for your decisions. Congress should work the same way. The people we send to Washington should answer to us, not to lobbyists, not to their stock portfolios, and not to the billionaires writing their checks. Immigration Reform That Works The immigration system is broken. Corporations exploit visa programs to undercut American workers and drive down wages. We do not need masked agents terrorizing communities. We need a system that is fair, enforceable, and holds corporations accountable when they profit from broken immigration law. Reform means fixing it from the top down, not punishing people at the bottom. I will push for real reform that secures the border, creates workable pathways, and stops corporations from exploiting American workers. End Corruption in Congress Corporations are not people. Citizens United opened the floodgates to unlimited money. Billionaires buy politicians while politicians protect billionaires. That is not democracy. That is a transaction. Members of Congress should not trade stocks on information the rest of us do not have. I support banning congressional stock trading and overturning Citizens United. This campaign is grassroots-funded because I answer to Utah's 4th District, not corporate donors. When your representative takes their money, they work for them. I work for you first and foremost! Defending the Constitution I swore an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. No president, no party, and no corporation gets to override it. Executive overreach is not strength. It is the opposite of what this country was built on. That oath drives everything I do. It is why I will fight to protect Social Security and Medicare for the 99,000 beneficiaries in this district. It is why I will hold any administration accountable when they overstep. And it is why veterans like me do not need a briefing to understand what is at stake. We swore to protect it. Utah Values Utah is not just where we live. It is who we are. From protecting the rights of every Utahn to preserving the land and water that sustain our communities, these are the values worth standing for. Every person in this state deserves dignity, and every community deserves a representative who will show up for them. Equal Rights for Every Utahn The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1923. A century later, we still have not ratified it. That tells you everything about Washington. Women deserve equal pay and full control over their own healthcare decisions. That is between a woman and her doctor. Not a politician and a lobbyist. LGBTQ+ and transgender Utahns deserve the same protections everyone else has. No child should walk into school feeling unsafe because of who they are. Every kid deserves to grow up knowing their community has their back. Equality for all! The Great Salt Lake and Agriculture The black outline on this satellite image shows where the Great Salt Lake stood in 1987. When the lakebed dries, the dust carries arsenic into the lungs of Wasatch Front families. Ranchers and farmers are stuck under \"use it or lose it\" water laws that punish conservation. Alfalfa and hay use 68 percent of the state's diverted water, much exported overseas. I will push for federal support to help farmers invest in underground irrigation that cuts usage by 30 to 70 percent and protect farmland from forced sales. Investing in farmers over billionaires is investing in America. Our Kids Deserve Better Than Last Place Utah ranks dead last in the country for per-pupil education spending. Last. That is not something any of us should accept. Our teachers are underpaid, classrooms are overcrowded, and politicians want to divert public school funding to private voucher programs with zero accountability. Every child in this district deserves a quality education regardless of their zip code. I will fight to protect public school funding, support our teachers, and make sure that when families pay taxes for education, those dollars actually reach the classroom. Standing with Utah Veterans In 2025, the VA lost 1,000 physicians, 1,500 schedulers, and 3,000 nurses. Doug Collins calls it reorganization. Veterans waiting months for a basic appointment call it abandonment. The VA does not need fewer people. It needs the right people in the right places. Mental health providers are stretched past capacity. Homeless veterans get shuffled into shelters that treat them like cases, not people. The VA should have dedicated housing built around recovery, not red tape. I will fight to restore VA staffing, expand mental health access, and get veterans back on their feet. — Jonny Larsen's campaign website (April 10, 2026) Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source."}]