Thomas Peterson (politician)

Thomas Peterson
Member of the Utah House of Representatives from the 1st District
Incumbent
Assumed office
September 21, 2022
Preceded byJoel Ferry
Personal details
Born
Brigham City, Utah, U.S.[1]
PartyRepublican
SpouseJodi[1]
Children4[1]
OccupationState building official; electrician; contractor[2][3]
CommitteesHouse Public Utilities and Energy Committee, vice chair;[4] Economic and Community Development Appropriations Subcommittee, vice chair;[5] Legislative Water Development Commission, House chair[6]
Websitehouse.utleg.gov/rep/PETERT/[7]

Thomas Peterson is an American politician and a member of the Utah House of Representatives from District 1. He replaced Joel Ferry after Utah Governor Spencer Cox appointed him to a state agency.[8][9]

Early life and education

Peterson was born in Brigham City, Utah, and grew up in nearby Perry. He graduated from Box Elder High School and later served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the South Africa Cape Town Mission. After returning, he trained and worked as an electrician and later operated a contracting business.[1][10]

Career

From the mid-2000s, Peterson worked in local government roles in Brigham City and Box Elder County related to operations and building services.[1] He was elected to the Brigham City Council in 2013 and 2017, serving from January 2014 through December 2021, and resigned his council seat in January 2023 after joining the Utah House of Representatives.[11][12]

In state service, Peterson was hired in late 2015 as an assistant state building official with Utah’s Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) and, in 2019, became a state building official.[13][14][3]

Utah House of Representatives

Peterson was selected by local Republican delegates and sworn in on September 21, 2022, to fill the District 1 seat vacated by Joel Ferry’s appointment to lead the Utah Department of Natural Resources.[15] According to the House page, District 1 includes parts of Box Elder and Cache counties, and Peterson began legislative service on September 21, 2022.[7]

For the 2024–2025 period, Peterson has served as vice chair of the House Public Utilities and Energy Committee and vice chair of the Economic and Community Development Appropriations Subcommittee. He is also the House chair of the Legislative Water Development Commission.[16][17][18]

Legislative priorities

Peterson’s sponsored legislation has centered on construction and inspection standards, utilities and energy policy, water development and infrastructure, and disaster preparedness. Selected measures include:

  • H.B. 518 (2024) State Construction Code Modifications updating Utah’s adoption of model construction and energy codes.[19][20]
  • H.B. 58 (2025) Building Inspector Amendments directing the Uniform Building Code Commission to collect inspector data and recommend standards related to local inspection capacity.[21][22][23]
  • H.B. 313 (2025) Construction Industry Amendments aligning state code references with newer ICC and NFPA standards, including the 2023 National Electrical Code.[24][25]
  • H.B. 32 (2025) Borgstrom Brothers Memorial Highway Designation naming a portion of SR-102 in Box Elder County in honor of five brothers who died while serving in World War II.[26]

Electoral Record

2024 Utah House of Representatives election, District 1
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Thomas Peterson 17,308 82.4
Democratic Claudia Bigler 3,707 17.6
Total votes 21,015 100

[27]

2022 Utah House of Representatives election, District 1
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Joel Ferry 11,781 82.1
Democratic Joshua Hardy 2,379 16.6
Write-In Thomas Peterson 128 0.9
Write-In Ben Ferry 40 0.3
Write-In Karson Riser 17 0.1
Total votes 13,345 100

[28]


References

  1. ^ a b c d e "My name is Thomas W. Peterson" (PDF). Brigham City candidate materials. City of Brigham City (archival PDF). Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  2. ^ "Thomas W. Peterson, CBO (résumé)" (PDF). International Code Council. 2019. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  3. ^ a b "Building Official — Our Team". Division of Facilities Construction and Management. State of Utah. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  4. ^ "House Public Utilities and Energy Committee (2025) — Members". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  5. ^ "Economic and Community Development Appropriations Subcommittee (2025) — Members". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  6. ^ "Legislative Water Development Commission (2025) — Members". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  7. ^ a b "Thomas W. Peterson — Utah House of Representatives". Utah House of Representatives. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  8. ^ DeMoss, Jeff. "Republicans pick Peterson to finish Ferry's term in legislature". The Tremonton Leader. The Tremonton Leader. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Thomas W. Peterson". Utah State Legislature. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Thomas W. Peterson, Candidate for City Council (2017)" (PDF). Brigham City candidate materials. City of Brigham City (archival PDF). 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  11. ^ "Peterson officially resigns seat on BC Council". Box Elder News Journal. 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  12. ^ "BC Council welcomes new member". Box Elder News Journal. 2023-02-08. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  13. ^ "Leadership spotlight: Thomas Peterson". Building Safety Journal. International Code Council. 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  14. ^ "Thomas W. Peterson, CBO (résumé)" (PDF). International Code Council. 2019. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  15. ^ Woodruff, Daniel (2022-09-23). "Brigham City councilmember sworn in to House seat vacated by new DNR head". KUTV. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  16. ^ "House Public Utilities and Energy Committee (2025) — Members". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  17. ^ "Economic and Community Development Appropriations Subcommittee (2025) — Members". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  18. ^ "Legislative Water Development Commission (2025) — Members". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  19. ^ "H.B. 518 (2024) — State Construction Code Modifications". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  20. ^ "H.B. 518 Enrolled" (PDF). Utah Legislature. 2024. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  21. ^ "H.B. 58 (2025) — Bill page". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  22. ^ "H.B. 58 (2025) — Introduced" (PDF). Utah Legislature. 2025-01-06. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  23. ^ "1st Sub. H.B. 58 (2025) — Building Inspector Amendments" (PDF). Utah Legislature. 2025-01-23. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  24. ^ "H.B. 313 (2025) — Bill page". Utah Legislature. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  25. ^ "4th Sub. H.B. 313 (2025) — text" (PDF). Utah Legislature. 2025-03-07. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
  26. ^ "H.B. 32 (2025) — Bill page". le.utah.gov.
  27. ^ https://ballotpedia.org/Thomas_Peterson_(Utah)
  28. ^ https://ballotpedia.org/Thomas_Peterson_(Utah)
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