As first Senate president from southern Utah since 1960s, Vickers hopes to bring rural perspective

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Senate Republicans have chosen Sen. Evan Vickers, R-Cedar City, as the next Senate president, marking the first time a southern Utah resident will hold the position since the 1960s.

Vickers noted the historical milestone during an editorial board meeting Monday at the Triad Center in Salt Lake City, where he and Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz discussed recent legislative election shifts.

"The last time there was a senate president from anywhere south of Provo was 1962, (with) Thorpe Waddingham from Delta. Prior to that, I think it was 1957 with Orval Hafen from Santa Clara, so it's been a while," Vickers said.

Vickers was first elected to public office in 1987, serving on the Cedar City Council until 1999. He was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 2008 and joined the Senate in 2012. He previously served as the Senate majority leader from 2019 to 2025.

His roots began in rural Utah. He was born in Panguitch — which currently has a population of roughly 1,700 people — and then raised in Beaver, a town of about 3,500 residents currently. Though Vickers raised his family in Cedar City, which has grown to more than 40,000 residents, he said he has no plans to leave rural Utah.

"I've got to be honest with you, I'm not going to move to Salt Lake," he said during the meeting. "The only thing that I really want in Salt Lake are my football tickets. ... I want to help people understand the value of legislators that live everywhere in the state and the value that we bring, and the different representation and the different challenges that exist all over the state."

The comment came after Vickers was asked if he plans to address specific challenges facing southern Utah, particularly housing affordability.

"I hope that through me being in my role, we can better educate the public in general — especially those that live in urban areas in the state — that there are challenges in rural Utah, but they're different," he said.

Vickers spoke fondly of his hometown of Beaver, highlighting a local lottery that determines "who gets to back their truck up" next to the high school football field so they can "watch the game in their lawn chair." He used the example to illustrate the structural differences between rural communities and urban areas.

"Water issues are different," Vickers said. "In the Great Salt Lake basin, it's all about making sure that there's as much water as possible going downstream to the lake. In southern Utah, we're trying to reuse it. In St. George and Washington (County), they're trying to reuse it three times. We all have issues, but it's an educational process. ... I just want to make sure that we elevate some of the priorities in rural Utah that actually affect the whole state."

Vickers will officially assume his role as Senate president when the Legislature convenes in January, succeeding Sen. J. Stuart Adams.

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