On March 10th, 2026, Karianne Lisonbee announced her bid to run for Congress in Utah’s newly redrawn 2nd congressional district.
Karianne has been a resident of northern Utah for over thirty years and has served two terms on the Syracuse City Council and five terms as a legislator representing District 14 in the Utah House of Representatives.
At a town hall hosted on May 30th in Layton, Utah, we sat down with some of Karianne’s team members to learn more about her campaign. Corinne Johnson, well-known among Utah’s parents as the co-founder of Utah Parents United, is coordinating volunteer efforts for Karianne’s campaign.
Karianne’s run for Congress is a campaign driven largely by volunteer efforts. “This is my first congressional campaign, but I’ve worked on a lot of campaigns,” says Corinne.
“I’ve worked a lot of campaigns that are supposedly grassroots, and I think what distinguishes this campaign is we actually do have grassroots volunteers working the campaign and knocking doors.”
Pictured: A volunteer team for Karianne Lisonbee knocks doors in Utah's 2nd congressional district. Credit: Riley Beesly, Western Regional Director for College Republicans of America, @rileybeesly on X.
Corinne mentioned several independent teams who are spending the time to knock doors for Karianne including a group of volunteers covering the north Salt Lake area: “They are coming straight from work, they are leaving their families in the evenings, they are driving from Provo and some come from Sandy, and every week they spend their evening knocking doors for Karianne.”
“A mom in Hooper met us the other night with her three kids on roller blades. They’re out with their roller blades and they’re dropping off Karianne Lisonbee flyers.”
Pictured: A family on rollerblades delivers flyers for Karianne Lisonbee in Hooper, UT. Credit: Karianne Lisonbee, @karilisonbee on X.
“That truly is a grassroots campaign where you have families and people who are doing this work. It’s just amazing, the volunteers who are coming out to support Karianne.”
Corinne also noted a conversation she had had with another individual who volunteered for Rep. Mike Kennedy’s congressional campaign: “He said they tried really hard to get volunteers out and couldn’t do it. They just couldn’t get the volunteers, and he said, ‘How are you guys doing this?’ And I’m like ‘Karianne. It’s Karianne.’”
“There is no one who has a greater work ethic than Karianne Lisonbee,” says Corinne. “I’d say she’s spending 50-60 hours a week on the campaign trail not just knocking doors but taking phone calls from all of the constituents.”
“Karianne would still be at the doors every day by herself knocking doors, and I think that does encourage people to want to be out there with her. You want to be out there with her supporting her because she does the work.”
Pictured: Karianne Lisonbee takes a selfie while knocking doors in Box Elder County. Credit: Karianne Lisonbee, @karilisonbee on X.
For Karianne, a typical day on the campaign trail is busy and productive and might be spent in the following way. Her mornings are focused on campaign tasks such as preparation for debate, writing news articles, and fulfilling requests for media interviews.
By afternoon, Karianne is out knocking doors and meeting the residents of Utah’s five northernmost counties. “When we’re out knocking doors,” Corinne said, “we leave phone numbers on the doorsteps with voters and they call her. They call her all times of day, even late at night.”
“Karianne takes every single call because those are people that she is going to represent and their opinion and their voice and their experiences living in northern Utah matter to her.”
“I think most people say they give out their phone numbers and call people or talk to people, but Karianne actually does that,” said Corinne Johnson.
After knocking doors all afternoon, Karianne often has an event scheduled in one of these counties. “Karianne will stay at a town hall until every question is answered,” Corinne said. “She is the last one to leave every single one of those town halls.”
“I think she wakes up earlier than anyone else and goes to bed later than anyone else,” says campaign volunteer Kelly Hoskins, the current Executive Director of the Utah Federation of College Republicans. “Her schedule I would say is 24/7, and then the rest of us just follow where we can basically.”
Kelly serves on the board of the Utah Federation of College Republicans (UFCR) and played a role in the UFCR board’s recent decision to officially endorse Karianne for Congress—the UFCR board’s first ever endorsement in a primary election.
She said, “We got our board together and we voted and we changed our constitution so that we could endorse primary candidates specifically for Karianne. We wanted to be able to endorse her through the primary. Karianne was the first person we have ever endorsed through a primary.”
On the national level, the College Republicans of America (CRA) have also endorsed Karianne. Young Republicans are supporting Karianne’s bid for Congress, and young Republicans attending Utah’s universities are actively volunteering in her campaign.
“We’ve had so many different college Republicans come out, knock doors, and help her with calling people and help her with events,” says Kelly. “Whatever she needs, she’s entirely backed by UFCR.”
Kelly also highlighted what she sees from her perspective as Karianne’s motivation to run for Congress. “From what I’ve seen and from what I’ve talked to her about, it’s her kids’ and her grandkids’ future. She wants to make sure that Utah and America are secure for their future. I would say her family is her motivating force.”
Karianne also cares about her neighbors and their families and their future families. Kelly Hoskins says, “Karianne truly views public service as service and so she also enjoys working for the people and there’s been so many cases in the legislature where she’s been able to pass policy because of one constituent coming to her with a concern.”
Earlier this week on the evening of June 1st, Karianne Lisonbee and incumbent Blake Moore participated in a debate hosted by the Utah Debate Commission and PBS Utah.
Pictured: Karianne Lisonbee and Blake Moore participate in a debate on June 1st. Credit: Utah News Dispatch.
One voter we spoke with said Karianne appeared “relaxed, confident, and herself,” while Moore appeared, “nervous and fidgety.” Issues discussed included data centers, redistricting, and the Great Salt Lake.
Karianne’s campaign efforts continue and primary election voting will be ongoing through the end of June 23rd. The last day for Utahns to register to vote is June 12. Learn more at vote.utah.gov.
