I’m Luis Villarreal. I’m a working-class Utahn, born and raised in West Valley, who became a software engineer and community advocate, not a politician. I’m running for Congress because this new district deserves a representative who actually understands what it means to struggle, to work, and to fight for a better life. For too long, career politicians - and yes, even self-proclaimed progressives - have caved to party leadership and establishment pressure. I won’t. I’m not here to protect the system. I’m here to challenge it.

I’m running to be the Democratic candidate for Utah’s new Congressional District 1 because it’s time for real change. I’m proud to run as a Democrat—but my goal is to transform the party into something we can all believe in. For too long, Democrats have been timid in the face of hateful Republican rhetoric, allowing their talking points to overshadow real American values. That ends now.

I’m the only Latino candidate in a district that’s 25% Hispanic, and I know firsthand how anti-immigrant rhetoric and broken policies hurt our families. But I’m also running for everyone, because when working people stand together, we win together. My fight is for every Utahn who’s been ignored, priced out, or talked down to by people in power.

This campaign is powered 100% by regular people. I don’t take - and will never take, corporate money, PAC money, or special-interest money. I’m not bought. I’m not controlled. And I won’t stay quiet when Democrats or Republicans sell out working families.

I’m running to be the most progressive, most independent, and most unapologetically pro-worker candidate in this race, because that’s what it will take to shake the establishment and actually deliver real change.

⸻

My Priorities

• Medicare for All – Healthcare as a right, not a business. End the insurance bureaucracy and build real hospitals, clinics, and healthcare jobs.

• Housing People Can Afford – Build homes across the country, stop corporate landlords, expand homebuyer tax credits, and put families first.

• Power to the Workers – Make unionizing easier, end union-busting, raise wages with inflation, and punish wage theft and worker exploitation.

• Green Energy & Trade Schools – Lead the world in clean-energy manufacturing and create affordable, union-backed trade programs for lifelong careers.

• Immigration With Dignity – Expand legal pathways, protect immigrant workers, strengthen the border against drug trafficking, and build a system that lifts all workers.

• Accountability for Both Parties – If a party puts donors over people, I’ll call it out—no matter the letter next to the name.

⸻

Join This Movement

This isn’t a campaign built on favors or checks from corporations, it’s built on the people of this district. Together, we can elect a representative who actually fights for working families, challenges the establishment, and brings real representation to a new district that deserves bold leadership.

Utah deserves a real progressive with a backbone. I’m ready to be that voice.