Margaret Dayton

Margaret Dayton is an American politician from Utah. A Republican, she is a member of the Utah State Senate, representing the state's 15th senate district in Provo and Orem since 2007. Dayton also served in the State House for district 61 from 1997 to 2006.

Background

After earning her Bachelor of Science degree at Brigham Young University, she worked for several years as a Registered Nurse. She is married to Lynn T. Dayton, a retired physician.

In 1996 she was appointed by Utah governor Mike Leavitt to fill out the remaining four months of the term of Rep. Lee Ellertson in Utah House district 61, which seat she was running for already in the November 1996 elections.^[1][2] She defeated "Independent American" candidate Gordon Norman with 90% of the vote in the election to retain the seat.^[3]

In 2006, Dayton ousted Republican incumbent Parley G. Hellewell to win the Republican nomination for the Utah Senate, and handily defeated Democrat Bethanie Newby in the November 2006 general election.^[4]

Views

Senator Dayton opposed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act by sponsoring an Opt Out bill. She opposes having a standardized education across the country. She also opposes the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program because of its international nature and the lack of state control over the curriculum, stating vehemently, "I don't want to create 'world citizens' nearly as much as I want to help cultivate American citizens". She is of the opinion that parents should have control over what is taught in schools. Senator Dayton believes in a literal reading of the constitution, and that "The traditional family is the fundamental unit of our society". She also believes "Government should provide only those services that cannot be provided by individuals or private organizations".

The Utah Taxpayers Association rated her 100% conservative.

References