Longtime Salt Lake lawyer Greg Skordas running for Utah attorney general

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SALT LAKE CITY — Longtime Salt Lake defense attorney and former prosecutor Greg Skordas wants to be the “people’s lawyer.”

Skordas, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that he’s in the race for Utah attorney general — a post he first sought nearly two decades ago.

Utah, he said, has too many career politicians who are out of touch with what matters to residents. Voters have resorted to ballot initiatives to expand health care and end gerrymandering only to find that their leaders have their own agenda, he said.

Skordas said he won’t waste taxpayer dollars on litigation that takes extreme positions on hotbed political issues that most Utahns do not hold.

“I am running because I believe the attorney general is the people’s lawyer, and the people of Utah deserve to have a top attorney who will represent their interests in court,” he said in a statement. “When Washington politicians file lawsuits and take actions that will take away our health care and endanger our environment, as Utah’s attorney general, I will not fall in line and join in.”

Skordas, 62, has practiced law for 38 years, including eight years in the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. He has also been a small claims court judge. He said he brings wisdom, good judgement and experience to the job.

“I have represented Utahns from all walks of life in every county in this state. Some were victims, some were young women seeking protection on campus, some were police officers who had risked their lives in the line of duty,” he said.

Skordas ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 2004 and Salt Lake County district attorney in 2010.