Michael Kent Winder (born January 27, 1976) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He was the mayor of West Valley City, Utah between 2010 and 2014. A Republican, he subsequently represented District 30 in the Utah House of Representatives for three terms, from 2017 to 2022. He is the author of fourteen published books on Utah and LDS history, including Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America's Presidents and the LDS Church.
Education and family
Winder was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and graduated from Taylorsville High School. From 1995 to 1997 he was a missionary in Taipei, Taiwan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He holds a Masters in Business Administration and an Honors B.A. degree in history from the University of Utah. He has also completed an executive leadership program with Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Winder is married to Karyn Hermansen, who was elected to the Granite School District Board of Education in November 2014. They have four children.
Business career
Winder was Business Development Manager for West Valley City from 2000–2004, during which time he also chaired the Chamber West Economic Development Committee.
From 2004-2009 he was vice president of marketing for Winder Farms. He was director of public affairs for The Summit Group Communications from 2009–2011.
Winder founded Neptune Strategies in 2012, a marketing and development firm. His principal client has been Friends of Traditional Banking, a Super PAC, where he has served as executive director.
Winder later was employed as a vice president of community development and director of entrepreneurship programs for Zions Bank from 2014-2017. He was hired as economic development manager in 2017 and later promoted to be assistant city manager for the city of Millcreek, Utah following their incorporation. In March 2022, Winder became Millcreek's city manager.
Political career
Winder has served as a member of the state and Salt Lake County Republican Party Executive Committees, deputy campaign manager for Congressman James V. Hansen, and chair of the Research and Policy Committee for the Jon Huntsman, Jr. for Governor campaign. He is the founder of the GenX GOP Network.
He was elected to an at-large seat on the West Valley City Council in November 2005 with 71% of the vote over 12-year incumbent Barbara Thomas.
He was elected on November 3, 2009 as the seventh mayor of West Valley City, Utah, with 76% of the vote; his opponent was Kevin Fayles.
At 29, he was the youngest council person in city history, and when sworn in on January 4, 2010, at age 33, he became the youngest mayor in city history.
In 2012, Winder and former county council member Mark Crockett emerged from the Salt Lake County Republican Convention field of six to face off for the GOP nomination for county mayor. Crockett narrowly defeated Winder in the GOP primary election, 50.7% to 49.3%.
In 2016, Winder ran for the Utah State House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Fred Cox in the Salt Lake County Republican Convention by a delegate vote of 62% to 38%. He went on to defeat his Democratic opponent Frank Bedolla 59% to 41%. He was sworn in as a member of the Utah State House of Representatives on January 1, 2017.
Winder was re-elected in 2018, following a victory over former-Representative Fred Cox in a Republican county convention rematch 67% to 33% and a general election win over Democrat Robert Burch, Jr. 57% to 43%. Winder was elected to a third term in 2020 in a rematch with Burch, 58% to 42%. In 2022, Rep. Winder announced he will be retiring from the legislature, as he was appointed unanimously to be the new city manager for Millcreek. He took office on March 7.
During the 2022 legislative session, Rep. Winder served on the Business, Economic Development, and Labor Appropriations Subcommittee, the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee, and the House Transportation Committee, where he served as its vice-chair.
Political Positions and Significant Legislation
In 2022, Rep. Winder sponsored HB178, "Rank Choice Voting Amendments," which would require "ranked-choice voting to be used to multi-candidate primaries and general elections." The bill was going to be considered in committee but was taken off the agenda in the last minute after a big push from groups on the political right to oppose the bill.