Representative Kera Birkeland Contact information

Kera Birkeland is an American politician, educator, and coach from Utah. She currently serves as the representative for Utah House District 4. She is on the Executive Offices and Criminal Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, House Education Committee, and House Judiciary Committee.

Birkeland replaced Logan Wilde in April 2020, and was elected to a full term in 2020, with 64 percent of the vote. Prior to election, she competed in the 2012 Mrs. Utah pageant and served as a delegate at the Republican National Convention in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, representing Ted Cruz. She expressed distaste toward Donald Trump at the time.

In January 2021, Birkeland introduced a resolution to honor Utah Jazz player Donovan Mitchell over retired player Shaquille O’Neal, as well as to make ‘Spida’ (Mitchell’s nickname) the state arachnid of Utah. The resolution passed.

During the 2021 legislative session, Birkeland lead efforts and introduced a bill to ban female transgender athletes from high school sports in Utah. This was vetoed by Republican Utah Governor Spencer Cox but passed with a supermajority in the legislature in a subsequent vote after proponents flipped ten votes in the state house and five in the senate. The law currently faces ongoing litigation led by the ACLU of Utah. In August, a state judge issued an injunction stopping enforcement of the ban, but left the rest of the bill in effect, meaning that transgender girls can seek permission from the commission to play on girls high school sports teams.

Birkeland was appointed to the Utah House of Representatives by Governor Gary Herbert on April 16, 2020, to replace Logan Wilde. Wilde resigned from the legislature after being appointed to state executive office. At the time of her appointment to the state legislature, Birkeland worked as the Director of Operations for Oil Vault, a small business she founded with her husband, Lars Birkeland.

In addition to her political career, Kera is a wife, mother to six, she runs a small business, and is a high school football and basketball referee. Her time spent on the football field and basketball court serves as great practice for debates on the House floor.