Salt Lake County Dems call for immediate resignation of Sen. Gene Davis

SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County Democratic Party wants Sen. Gene Davis to immediately and unconditionally resign.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the party said it had concluded its investigation into a complaint made against Davis on Aug. 4, 2022, and determined that Davis’ reported behavior violated the party’s anti-harassment policies.

Following its investigation, the party said that on Sept. 8, 2022, it issued several recommendations to its Executive Committee, including:

• the immediate and unconditional resignation of Senator Gene Davis,
• the suspension of Davis from all official Salt Lake County Democratic Party events for 2 years,
• and the suspension of Davis from party support for 2 years.

The Salt Lake Democratic Party said that the executive committee discussed the judicial committee’s recommendations at a meeting on Sept. 12, and voted unanimously to approve the recommendations. After a 14-day period where the decision could be appealed by the complainant, it was not appealed.

#BREAKING SALT LAKE Co Dems calling for Sen. Gene Davis to step down after allegations of sexual harassment. They did their own investegation and say he violated party anti-harassment policies. This is spearate from investegation being done by @utahsenate. #utpol @kslnewsradio https://t.co/sAYWBKyXYb

— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) September 27, 2022

The Utah Democratic Party suspended Davis, D-Salt Lake City, on August 23 after a former intern made sexual harassment allegations against him. The intern made the allegations on their Instagram page.

Sen. Davis responds

The attorney representing Sen. Gene Davis issued a statement late Tuesday night in response to the request by the Salt Lake County Democratic Party that Davis step down immediately.

Part of the statement reads as follows:

Senator Davis has done nothing that would warrant his resignation from the Utah State Senate. Senator Davis will continue to be a fervent voice on Capitol Hill for public education and for the health and economic stability of Utah families. Senator Davis is saddened that the Salt Lake County Party Leaders have continually violated the Party’s policies and procedures, but he will continue to tirelessly serve the great people of his district and the State of Utah through the full term of his office as he has done for the last 36 years.”

Both the county and state Democratic parties have already suspended Davis from party functions.

An independent investigation into the allegations toward Davis, ordered by Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, continues.

Our previous reporting:

• Senate President orders investigation after allegations of sexual harassment against Sen. Gene Davis
• ‘So no one else gets hurt:’ Utah Democratic Party pushes for Davis suspension
• Sen. Gene Davis suspended by Utah Democratic Party after accusations of sexual harassment

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