Kael Weston

On April 25, 2020, Weston defeated two challengers at the Utah state Democratic convention (which was held virtually due to coronavirus) to clinch the nomination. By receiving 83% of the vote of the party delegates, Weston avoided a primary campaign.

In January 2020, after the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani by air strike, Weston published an editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune stating his opposition to the attack. Weston argued the strike made the United States less safe by provoking Iran.

Weston announced his campaign with an editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune on December 15, 2019. Prior to Weston's entering the race, UtahPolicy.com had reported the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee considered Chris Stewart potentially vulnerable to a strong opponent, due to Donald Trump's unpopularity in the 2nd district, and Stewart's record of vigorously defending him. A poll taken in January 2020 among likely voters showed Stewart with 38% of the vote, and a Democratic challenger with 36% of the vote. (The remainder were undecided or voting for someone else.)

In May 2019, Weston co-authored an editorial opposing President Trump’s proposed pardoning of accused or convicted war criminals. Later that year, Trump pardoned Eddie Gallagher and granted clemency to two other soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes.

Weston considers the Afghanistan War to have been "a necessary war", but says the Iraq War was not. Weston broke with President Obama over the decision to approve a 30,000-troop surge in Afghanistan in late 2009. Weston instead believed the president should have determined how many troops to commit to Afghanistan for a decade, and then have pledged that level of support over that timeframe.

Weston spent over a decade serving in the United States Department of State, including seven years as an advisor for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, from 2003 to 2010., and earned the State Department's Award for Heroism. He previously led the United States' effort in the United Nations Security Council to freeze assets linked to al-Qaeda. He is an instructor at Westminster College and the Marine Corps University. He also serves on Salt Lake County's Open Space Advisory Board.

Weston grew up in Northern Utah, and graduated from the University of Utah in 1996, with a major in political science and a minor in history. He later received a master's from the University of Cambridge, and spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Amsterdam.

John Kael Weston (born 1972) is an American diplomat, author, and politician. He was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Utah's 2nd congressional district in the 2020 election. A member of the Democratic Party, Weston ran against incumbent Chris Stewart. He was also a candidate for the Democratic primary for the 2022 United States Senate election in Utah.