Mark A. Wheatley, a St. Ann parishioner, wins his fourth term in the House of Representatives

Courtesy photo/Mark Archuleta Wheatley

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Mark Archuleta Wheatley

MURRAY —Mark Archuleta Wheatley won his fourth term in the November election for House District 35, which encompasses South Salt Lake and Murray.

Wheatley, a member of Saint Ann Parish, has served eight years in the Legislature, and began his career in the House of Representatives in 2004. He has been involved in politics indirectly for a number of years helping individuals with their campaigns and has been a member of the Democratic Caucus for a number of years as well, he said.

"I became active in politics by serving in the community and serving on numerous boards and this is the example set forth by my mother, who always encouraged me to be involved and be participatory in helping in the community," said Wheatley. "From that I love to be of service to people. Then I met my wife, Josie Valdez, who also ran this past election for the senate."

Wheatley has been married to Valdez for 27 years. They have two sons and three grandchildren.

Wheatley is firm in his faith and credits his mother as his role model, whom he said rarely misses Mass. He also credits his aunt and uncle, who were his godparents.

"I stayed with my godparents when I was a young boy for a couple of summers and we would always go to church in Rawlins, Wyo.," he said. "The priest there was a great listener and a true believer, and my aunt and uncle were very active in the church. That contributed to my wanting to get involved."

Wheatley grew up in Salt Lake City and attended Liberty Elementary, Lincoln Junior High and South High schools. He attended the University of Utah and graduated from Westminster College with a Bachelor of Science degree in human resource management. He was named the 2007 Alumni of the Year by Westminster College for his work and involvement in serving the community. He has 15 years experience working for Salt Lake Community College, serving as an education administrator for several educational programs.

He has been a board member of the Hispanic American Festival, the Mexican Civic Center, president of the Society of the Muse of the Southwest, the Cooperation Education and Internship Association and the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers.

He currently is a member of the Governor’s Hispanic Advisory Council.

His legislative assignments have included the higher education appropriations subcommittee, the House Judiciary Committee and the Native American liaison committee.

Wheatley’s experience in the House of Representatives has been fantastic, he said. "It has been an honor and a privilege to serve," he said. "The amount of information you have to digest and ingest is incredible. I love to be of service and I like working toward solutions."

When he first ran for office, the incumbent representative was retiring, he said. "The biggest issue that I had and still continue to have is public education; we need to do a better job in terms of reducing class size by educating students with special needs, and those with talents and gifts. We need to make sure they transition into college, whether it is through a vocational college, through an applied technology college, Salt Lake Community College or a four-year institutional college. We need to make sure that they have good, viable careers so they can provide for themselves and their families as contributing citizens."