Daniel Thatcher

Daniel W. Thatcher^[1] is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Utah State Senate from 2011 until he registered with the Forward Party in 2025, saying he didn't want to be "part of the crazy-making anymore."^[2] He currently represents District 11; prior to redistricting, he represented District 12.

Daniel Thatcher
Thatcher in 2014
Member of the Utah Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2011
Preceded by	Brent H. Goodfellow
Constituency	12th district (2011–2023) 11th district (2023–present)
Personal details
Nationality	American
Political party	Forward (since 2025)
Other political affiliations	Republican (2010–2025)
Residence	West Valley City, Utah

Personal life, education, and career

Thatcher was born and raised in West Valley City.^[3] Thatcher's official biography describes him as self-educated.^[4] His profession is in electronics and low voltage wiring.^[3]

Political career

Senator Thatcher began his political pursuits when he co-founded the Salt Lake County Young Republicans. He was the chapter's first chair.^[4] He is also a co-founder of West Side Matters and has held various elected positions in the Salt Lake County Republican Party.^[4]

• 2010 To challenge incumbent Democratic Senator Brent H. Goodfellow, Thatcher was selected by the Republican convention from two candidates for the November 2, 2010 General election, which he won with 9,432 votes (53.25%) against Senator Goodfellow.^[5]

During the 2016 Session, Thatcher served on the following committees:^[6]

• Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee (Senate Chair)
• Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee
• Retirement and Independent Entities Appropriations Subcommittee
• Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee
• Senate Health and Human Services Committee
• Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Committee
• Senate Retirement and Independent Entities Committee

Elections

2014

2014 Utah State Senate election District 12

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Daniel Thatcher	8,548	58.8%
	Democratic	Clare Collard	5,998	41.2%

^[7]

Legislation

2016 sponsored bills

Bill Number and Title	Bill Status
S.B. 94 Law Enforcement Use of Body Cameras	Senate/Filed for bills not passed 3/10/2016
S.B. 124 Gang Enhancement Provision Amendments	Governor Signed 3/21/2016
S.B. 157 Pawnshop Amendments	Senate/To Governor 3/17/2016
S.B. 187 Reclassification of Misdemeanors	Governor Signed 3/25/2016

Notable legislation

In 2015, the School Safety and Crisis Line legislation (SB 175), sponsored by Thatcher and Rep. Steve Eliason, passed the Utah State Legislature designating UNI (University Neuropsychiatric Institute, now Huntsman Mental Health Institute) as the crisis provider and an active commission, chaired out of the attorney general's office, for implementation. Thatcher chose to sponsor the legislation after recognizing the statewide epidemic that had personally impacted him numerous times throughout his life.^[8]