Sheryl Allen

Sheryl L. Allen (born June 30, 1943) is a Republican politician and educator from Bountiful, Utah. She represented the 19th District of the Utah House of Representatives from 1994 to 2011. Before entering politics, Allen was a teacher and the president of the Davis County Board of Education.

In May 2010, Salt Lake County mayor Peter Corroon, the Democratic candidate for Governor of Utah, selected Allen as his running mate for the office of lieutenant governor, making them the first major bipartisan ticket in Utah state history. However, they were defeated by the all-Republican ticket of Gary Herbert and Greg Bell in the 2010 gubernatorial election.

Background Sheryl Allen was born in 1943 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Allen attended the University of Utah, where she received a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education in 1965.

Educational career In 1976, Allen, Lucile Cardon Reading, and Theo Italisano were the first three women to be elected to the previously male-dominated Davis County Board of Education and took office on January 1, 1977. Reading, who became board president, and Allen worked to stop alleged mismanagement and ended the practice of officials receiving kickbacks from building contractors. Allen became board president with the death of Reading in March 1982. In 1988, Allen stated that she was stepping down from the board the following year to pursue graduate studies. Allen won with 54% of the vote and took office on July 20, 1994.

On January 26, 1996, eight hours after the execution by firing squad of John Albert Taylor, Allen introduced a bill to eliminate the firing squad, which did not pass. She later succeeded in passing HB180, which removed the right of the condemned to choose their method of execution after February 2004.

In 2005, Allen was awarded Legislator of the Year by the Utah School Board Association. She was re-elected to her eighth term in the state legislature in 2008 with over 80% of the vote.

2010 campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Utah

On May 1, 2010, Salt Lake County mayor Peter Corroon asked Allen to be his running mate for lieutenant governor in his gubernatorial bid against incumbent Republican Governor Gary Herbert. As Corroon ran as a Democrat and Allen as a Republican, this was the first bipartisan team on a single ticket between major political parties in a Utah state election. In 1976, governor Scott M. Matheson and lieutenant governor David Smith Monson were elected from different parties, but on separate tickets. Political clashes between Matheson and Monson led to changes in state election law, requiring joint tickets in subsequent elections. Corroon's campaign accused Herbert's governorship of being "corrupt." After the second most expensive gubernatorial campaign in Utah history, Herbert won the election on November 2, 2010.

Awards and honors Susa Young Gates Award, 1998 Utah School Board Association Legislator of the Year, 2004 Utah Hotel and Lodging Association Legislator of the Year, 2005 Utah Medical Association Legislator of the Year, 2006

Affiliations 100 Women for 100 Years (1996 co-chair) Colorado Plateau Archeological Project (board member) Forum on Democracy and Trade (board member) George Washington University Elliott School of International Business (trade advisory committee) Hogle Zoo (former board member) KUED (PBS) (board member) NCSL Economic Development Committee (2004–06 chair) NCSL Standing Committee (2007 vice chair) Utah Humanities Council (former board member)