Pete Ashdown
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- For the racecar driver, see Peter Ashdown.
Peter Lynn "Pete" Ashdown (born January 11, 1967) is the founder and CEO of Utah's first independent and oldest Internet service provider, XMission. In 2006 he challenged and lost to incumbent U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, running as the Democratic candidate.
[edit] Early life, education, and career
Ashdown was born in Salt Lake City to Robert and Greta Ashdown, and grew up in Bountiful, Utah. His father worked as a machinist, an elementary school teacher, and a professor of manufacturing design at Salt Lake Community College. His mother, an immigrant from Denmark, ran the Ashdowns' family business of importing kitchenware from Finland. In his teen and young adult years, Ashdown held jobs of bussing tables at a Japanese restaurant, working for an electrical contractor, computer sales and repair, and data entry.
Ashdown graduated from Woods Cross High School in 1985 and attended Salt Lake Community College, subsequently transferring to the University of Utah to study filmmaking. While at the university, Ashdown began studying computer science.
Throughout the early 1990s, Ashdown was a promoter and participant in rave culture, importing acid house music to Utah and throwing concerts with partner John Webster. Although these concerts played host to drugs such as ecstasy, Ashdown has stated that he did not participate, commenting that, "I never took drugs during the raves, and I never encouraged anyone to do so [...] I made an effort to not equate raves with drugs. A large reason why I left the scene is that it became more of a dealer and pusher situation." [1]
While at the University of Utah, Ashdown was hired by local computer graphics firm Evans & Sutherland as a computer operator and administrative assistant. After Ashdown's mother Greta died in 1990, his father urged him to start his own business. In 1993, at the age of 26, Ashdown formed the ISP XMission with an investment from his father, and in 1994 left Evans & Sutherland.
In 1998, Pete married his wife Robin. They have three children, Madeleine, Henry, and Greta.
[edit] 2006 U.S. Senate election
Ashdown was the only Democrat who filed to run against incumbent Republican Senator Orrin Hatch in the 2006 Utah Senate election. Ashdown stated that he was "disgusted" by Hatch's policies regarding technology, notably the INDUCE Act. He supports the goals of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and has stated the support for reforming copyright laws in support of initiatives taken by the EFF.
In July 2005, Ashdown was endorsed by the blog Boing Boing for the election. [2] Ashdown is believed to be one of the first politicians to use a wiki to develop a campaign platform, although he has had to restrict editing due to excessive vandalism. [3]
Ashdown lost, and Hatch was re-elected with 62% of the vote.
