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Nate Blouin, 37
U.S. House – 1st District
1) What challenges are most pressing for Utahns under 36, and how can you realistically respond within your office?
The young Utahns I talk to are facing three interconnected crises: they cannot afford to live here, the environment they grew up in is being degraded in real time, and the political system feels rigged against doing anything about either.
Young people are being priced out of the state they call home. The private market and tax credit programs alone are not going to solve this. I support repealing the Faircloth Amendment, which currently blocks the federal government from directly funding and building public housing. If we want to bring housing costs down at the scale the crisis demands, we need the government to be able to build again, not just subsidize developers and hope it trickles down. I will also fight back against the corporate landlords and speculators treating homes like financial instruments instead of places people live. And I will fight for Medicare for All while promoting more accessible and affordable care under the current broken system.
The Great Salt Lake is the clearest example of what is at stake environmentally. It is an economic and public health crisis happening in our backyard, affecting agriculture, air quality, and the outdoor economy that defines Utah's identity. I’ve authored legislation that passed through the Utah Legislature to get more water to the lake and to promote clean energy, and I will fight for the Green New Deal, geothermal energy development, and the federal resources our environment actually needs.
Young people are right to feel like the political system is not working for them, because it is not. When billionaires can buy elections, when politicians draw their own districts to keep themselves in power, and when corporate PAC money determines whose calls get returned in Washington, working people lose. I will fight to get money out of politics, ban gerrymandering nationwide, and expand voting access. And I do not take corporate PAC money or AIPAC money, because you cannot fix a corrupt system while feeding it.
2) As an elected official, how do you plan to respond to growing authoritarianism, corruption, and assaults on civil rights?
By fighting, loudly and without apology. I have been doing that in the Utah Legislature against a Republican supermajority, and they literally cut off my microphone for it. That is the job.
The most important thing Congress can do right now is reassert its authority as a co-equal branch of government. That means voting to check executive war powers, opposing the use of federal agencies as political weapons, and refusing to normalize what is happening. I will not be quiet about it, and I will not vote to accommodate it in exchange for political convenience.
Corruption does not fix itself. I do not take corporate PAC money or AIPAC money. I support the For the People Act to get money out of politics, ban gerrymandering, and expand voting access. I support banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks. The rot in our political system was built by people who benefit from it, and dismantling it requires electing people who are not beholden to it.
Civil liberties are not negotiable, and I will never treat them as a bargaining chip. Whether it is attacks on trans youth, the criminalization of abortion, the weaponization of immigration enforcement against communities of color, or the surveillance of Muslim Americans, I will oppose every one of these assaults directly and on the record.
3) In a race with multiple candidates asking to represent the Democratic Party, what should make you stand out to Young Democrats?
What sets this campaign apart is pretty simple: we have built something real. More than 200 volunteers have already shown up. Our fundraising is coming from real people, not corporate PACs. Bernie Sanders looked at my record and endorsed this campaign because he saw someone who has actually fought for progressive values in one of the most hostile political environments in the country and refused to back down. That kind of support reflects a genuine grassroots movement that believes something different is possible in Utah's 1st district.
I have spent years showing up, to protests, to picket lines, to community meetings, and to the legislature where I’ve never backed down from a fight. I have gotten hundreds of young people directly involved in the legislative process because I believe the next generation should be shaping policy now, not waiting for permission.
The other candidates in this race are good people. But if you want someone who has already proven they will fight for progressive values under pressure, build a movement, elevate young voices, and never trade their principles for a hollow win, then I am the candidate for you.
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