Inside Utah Politics with Lindsay Aerts

Utah's America 250 celebrations came and went without mass displays of personal fireworks across much of the state. Governor Cox's executive order clamping down on those displays expired July 5th, but our fire danger has not subsided. Lindsay Aerts sits down with Utah's State Forester Jaimie Barnes to dig into what worked about the policy, what didn't and whether we might see its return for Pionee...

Utah lawmakers will not pursue another version of Amendment D, the voided proposal to rein in the power of voter-led initiatives to change state law. It's the latest development on the many fronts of the war over Prop 4 and redistricting in Utah. Analysts Erin Rider and Adam Gardiner join Lindsay to explain why lawmakers are taking a beat here, and what this means for their overall strategy. Plus,...

The USMNT is out of the World Cup after their loss to Belgium, but it's the action off the field driving conversation. President Donald Trump made a personal call to FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review the red card against star US striker Folarin Balogun. Our panelists Taylor Morgan and Leah Murray join Lindsay to weigh whether this was an appropriate use of presidential power, and whether i...

The United State Supreme Court has gone home for the summer, but not before dropping some landmark decisions. The high court handed President Trump a loss on one of his marquee policy proposals, denying him the ability to abolish birthright citizenship via executive order. On the same day we saw a win for conservative-governed states like Utah, with the court upholding laws banning transgender gir...

The United States Supreme Court has dropped their final rulings from the October 2025 term. It was a run of cases for the history books, between a pair of cases upholding bans on transgender girls in women's sports, a major loss for the president on birthright citizenship, and a potential game changer for campaign finance. Panelists Leah Murray and Sarah Reale join Lindsay to discuss the implicati...

Lindsay Aerts unpacks all the big wins and losses on primary election night. Former congressman Ben McAdams details his plans to punch his ticket back to Washington in a new district where there's plenty of unknown. Plus, we sit down with the candidate behind the update rocking Utah politics. Stephanie Hollist, a political newcomer, managed to unseat Senate President J. Stuart Adams in the State S...

Governor Cox announces a new executive order that gives the State Forester and town fire marshals far greater power to restrict, and in some cases ban, private firework displays. It comes as over 100,000 acres burn in severe wildfires across the state, including the Cottonwood Fire, which the governor described as the most destructive fire in state history. Panelists Adam Gardiner and Erin Rider w...

Your Local Election Headquarters is all over the results of the primary elections. We were there when Stephanie Hollist learned she had unseated Senate President J. Stuart Adams and we brought the race calls live in our first election on new congressional maps. Now, panelists Taylor Morgan and Leah Murray return for an encore performance the morning after to unpack why things shook out the way the...

On the eve of the election, we're sitting down with the candidates in what's set to be a highly watched State House primary race. In HD-16, incumbent Representative Trevor Lee faces an in-party challenge from Bob Stevenson, a veteran of Davis County politics. They join Lindsay to explain their priorities heading into election day. Plus, a last second controversy in the highly watched race for the...

The heat continues to climb in Utah's second congressional district, with Congressman Blake Moore saying his challenger has engaged in "outright defamation." It comes after outgoing state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee captioning a now-deleted X post “I came from nothing and built my American dream with hard work. I will not watch politicians like Blake Moore spend away our children’s and grandchildren’s...

Colorado River negotiations reach their boiling point. Utah Senator Mike Lee says Congress will not reward states that sue other states over water with more federal funding. It comes as Arizona is lawyering up to take Utah to court as deadlock stalls a long-term agreement on the how to share the river's evermore precious water. Amy Haas is the executive director of the Colorado River Authority of...

AI money seems to be flowing into Utah's congressional primary races, with big spends in favor of Ben McAdams and Rep. Celeste Maloy. Panelists Adam Gardiner and Leah Murray join Lindsay Aerts to weigh the impact those dollars might have, both positive and negative as we enter uncharted territory with the polarization surrounding AI development and data center infrastructure. Plus, the new map is...

Opposition to plans to build a massive ICE detention center in Salt Lake City is firing on all cylinders this week, with both Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County filing a lawsuit arguing the plans have not gone through the proper legal channels. Some non-profit groups have also filed their intent to seek a lawsuit of their own against DHS on similar ground. Panelists Taylor Morgan and Leah Murray...

In this special edition of Inside Utah Politics with Lindsay Aerts, we sit down with Kevin O'Leary for two interviews at a key juncture in the development of the Stratos Project hyperscale data center planned in Box Elder County. We dig deeper into Lindsay's conversations with Mister Wonderful to understand the plans from his perspective, his reaction to a request to cut down the project area by 7...

Kevin O'Leary has released his promised letter responding to a demand from Senate President J. Stuart Adams to shrink the Stratos data center project and put up certain environmental guardrails and transparency requirements. Panelists Taylor Morgan and Leah Murray join Lindsay to unpack what this means for the political debate over data centers in Utah and across the nation. Plus, Governor Spencer...

Shark Tank host and multi-millionaire Kevin O'Leary sat down with Lindsay Aerts to respond to the pushback to his data center project in Box Elder County. He tells us that he feels blindsided by the letter published by Senate President J. Stuart Adams which asked him to cut down the size of the Stratos Project by 75%. Panelists Adam Gardiner and Erin Rider join Lindsay to unpack what happened here...

Primary season is heating up in Utah as candidate for Utah's congressional race on both sides of the aisle prepare to take the debate stage. Panelists Leah Murray and Taylor Morgan join Lindsay to set both the expectations and the stakes. We are just days away from ballots going to Utahns across the state. Plus, President Donald Trump is dealing with low approval ratings here in Utah. The presiden...

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has declared a drought emergency after a record low snowpack has left our reservoirs below where we'd like them to be heading into the hottest and driest part of the year. It comes amid growing tensions over data center development in the Utah, with locals at city council meetings across the state voicing their concerns about potential environmental impacts of these projects...

It's a data driven episode of IUP+ for you today. Rep. Blake Moore's campaign released new internal polling data that shows him with a comfortable lead over state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee. We're also seeing a new local poll digging into how Utahns feel about plans for a data center in Box Elder County, which found that most people are not convinced the economic gains justify the water tradeoffs. Pan...

President Donald Trump is wrapping up his visit to China to discuss economic collaboration with a large group of business leaders in tow. Panelists Taylor Morgan and Adam Gardiner join Lindsay to discuss what the two countries have to offer one another and how the US should approach the idea of greater economic and security collaboration with China. Plus, Prop 4 is proving to be a major topic of d...

Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen is stepping down after allegations that she was involved in an extramarital affair with the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs suing the state over redistricting. State leaders had been promising a new investigation into the claims that Utah's Judicial Conduct Commission found to be speculative because they don't believe the commission went far enough to investig...

State and local leaders are facing continued backlash over plans to move forward with a data center planned in Box Elder County. Panelists Taylor Morgan and Erin Rider join Lindsay to discuss how the state and developers can address both the angst and what some are calling confusion and misinformation. For context on the incident between ABC4's Bayan Wang, you can see the full story below and read...

The Box Elder County commission votes to move forward with plans for a massive data center despite weeks of public pushback. It's a fraught time for data center development across the country and here in Utah in particular. Just this past week, Governor Spencer Cox came out in support of developing more data centers in our state and across the nation as a matter of national security in the AI tech...

Utah's most senior member in the House is heading into a serious primary challenge. Outgoing state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee is fresh off a commanding victory at the Utah GOP State Convention over incumbent Rep. Blake Moore. She joins Lindsay today to discuss the perspective she hopes to bring to Washington and why she think it's time for voters to move on from Rep. Moore. Plus, some leaders in the s...

Utah Governor Spencer Cox fielded questions on a slate of hot button issues in his monthly press conference to wrap up April. Reporters, including our own Lindsay Aerts got his take on the controversy over plans for a massive data center in Box Elder County, and the latest flare in tensions between the state leaders and the judiciary. Panelists Adam Gardiner and Erin Rider join the show to react t...