Background
Arent was born February 3, 1956 in Utah.
Arent was born February 3, 1956 in Utah.
University of Utah; Cornell Law School.
She received her Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Utah in 1978 and her Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School in 1981. Arent was elected to the Utah House of Representatives in 1996 where she has served as Democratic Whip and Assistant Democratic Whip. In 2002, because of legislative redistricting, she would have had to run against another incumbent Democratic representative to remain in her House seat.
She served in the Utah Senate from 2003 through 2006.
Arent was elected Democratic National Committeewoman from Utah at the 2008 State Democratic Convention. She represented Utah as a "superdelegate" at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, and helped nominate Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States.
In 2010, she returned to public office as the Representative of District 36 in the Utah House of Representatives. She was reelected in 2012 with 60% of the vote.
In 2011, the Utah Democratic Party awarded her the Eleanor Roosevelt Award.
The award was presented on October 27, 2011 at This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was selected by a committee of past award winners. Past award winners include former Congresswoman Karen Shepherd and State Senator Karen Mayne.
Representative Arent also floor sponsored SB0118801 School Funding Through Income Tax Revisions.
During the 2014 General Session Representative Arent was particularly active in regards to clean air legislation, sponsoring a competition to encourage a reduction in idling and air pollution.
Before becoming a member of the House of Representatives, she worked as an Assistant Attorney General in the Utah Attorney General" General’ s Office from 1989-1995.