FILE: Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, speaks in on March 3, 2022. (Mengshin Lin /Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County Democratic Party wants Sen. Gene Davis to immediately and unconditionally resign.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the party said it had concluded its investigation into a complaint made against Davis on Aug. 4, 2022, and determined that Davis’ reported behavior violated the party’s anti-harassment policies.
Following its investigation, the party said that on Sept. 8, 2022, it issued several recommendations to its Executive Committee, including:
The Salt Lake Democratic Party said that the executive committee discussed the judicial committee’s recommendations at a meeting on Sept. 12, and voted unanimously to approve the recommendations. After a 14-day period where the decision could be appealed by the complainant, it was not appealed.
The Utah Democratic Party suspended Davis, D-Salt Lake City, on August 23 after a former intern made sexual harassment allegations against him. The intern made the allegations on their Instagram page.
The attorney representing Sen. Gene Davis issued a statement late Tuesday night in response to the request by the Salt Lake County Democratic Party that Davis step down immediately.
Part of the statement reads as follows:
Senator Davis has done nothing that would warrant his resignation from the Utah State Senate. Senator Davis will continue to be a fervent voice on Capitol Hill for public education and for the health and economic stability of Utah families. Senator Davis is saddened that the Salt Lake County Party Leaders have continually violated the Party’s policies and procedures, but he will continue to tirelessly serve the great people of his district and the State of Utah through the full term of his office as he has done for the last 36 years.”
Both the county and state Democratic parties have already suspended Davis from party functions.
An independent investigation into the allegations toward Davis, ordered by Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, continues.