Background
Philpot was born in Molalla, Oregon.
Philpot was born in Molalla, Oregon.
University of Utah.
He is a former vice-chair of the Utah Republican Party. Philpot was also a candidate for Governor of the United States. state of Utah. While attending the University of Utah, he interned at the White House in 1997.
Having participated in Utah"s caucus/convention system as a precinct chair, state delegate, and county delegate, he successfully ran for a seat in the Utah House of Representatives in 2000.
He was re-elected in 2002. Just before the end of his second term, he resigned his seat in order to attend Avenue Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Upon graduation in 2007, he returned to Utah where he worked for the Utah Attorney General"s office before accepting a position as the General Counsel and Government Affairs director for Reagan Outdoor Advertising.
Utah House of Representatives
While in office, Philpot sponsored the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship bill, the Prohibition of Public Funding for Abortion and the Designation of Constitution & Bill of Rights Day in Utah. He also received the "Guardian of Small Business" from NFIB and the Statesmanship Citation from the Newquist group.
Post Legislative In early 2009, Philpot declared his intention to run against the incumbent vice-chair of the state Republican party.
He claimed victory with 52% of the vote. While in office, he helped to create a Web Communications committee, which dramatically increased the party"s digital engagement. On January 15, 2010, he announced his resignation as party vice-chair and his intention to run for Utah"s Second Congressional District.
He advanced out of convention without a primary and was defeated by the incumbent, Democrat Jim Matheson, by 5%.
On December 1, 2011 Philpot publicly announced his plans to run for Governor of Utah. He came within a few percentage points of advancing out of convention to challenge the incumbent governor in the Republican primary.