Senator Kathleen Riebe Contact information

Kathleen Riebe is an American politician from Salt Lake City, Utah. She is a member of the Democratic Party and currently represents Utah’s 15th senate district in the Utah State Senate. Prior to redistricting, she represented the 8th district.

Riebe has a rich educational background. She graduated from Hofstra University in 1991 with a double major in Elementary Education and Sociology. She later obtained a Master’s degree and an Administrative Certificate in 2006 from Utah State University. She also holds an Educational Technology Endorsement from Southern Utah University.

Before her political career, Riebe held various jobs. She worked as a truck driver, bartender, and an Alta police dispatcher. She has taught outdoor education in New York, Georgia, New Jersey, and Maine. Since 2001, she has been teaching in the Granite School District, where she is currently employed as an educational technology specialist.

Riebe’s political career began in 2016 when she was elected to the Utah State Board of Education, defeating anti-common-core candidate Gary Thompson. While on the State school board, she served on several committees including the Financial Literacy Committee; School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (STILA) Nominating Committee; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Action Center; Underage Drinking Committee; and served as Co-Chair of the Finance Committee.

In 2018, Riebe secured the Democratic nomination for Utah Senate District 8 by defeating former candidate for U. S. Congress Kathie Allen at the Salt Lake County Democratic Convention. She won the 2018 election for Utah Senate District 8, defeating incumbent Republican Brian Zehnder. Having been elected to the State Senate, she had to resign her State School Board seat mid-term. Riebe currently sits on the Senate Education and Transportation Committees.

After redistricting in 2022, Senator Riebe’s district changed to the 15th District. She was elected Minority Whip in January 2023. On May 31, 2023, she announced that she was running in the 2023 Utah’s 2nd congressional district special election. She was nominated by the Utah Democratic Party to be their candidate in the general election.