Mickelsen, Enid Greene, 1958-

<p>Enid G. Waldholtz, a rising star in the Utah Republican Party, made her mark quickly in the U.S. House, earning a seat on the prestigious Rules Committee as a freshman and becoming only the second Member of Congress to become a mother while serving.</p>

<p>Enid Greene was born in San Rafael, California, on June 5, 1958, the middle child in a family of five siblings. Her father, Forrest Greene, was a San Francisco stockbroker who held a seat on the Pacific Stock Exchange for four decades. The family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, and lived in an affluent neighborhood known as “the Avenues.” Enid Greene graduated cum laude from the University of Utah in 1980 and earned a JD from Brigham Young University in 1983. She then worked as a litigator for a law firm. From 1990 to 1992, she served as deputy chief of staff to Utah Governor Norman Bangerter, leaving that position to make a competitive but unsuccessful run for a congressional district that encompassed Salt Lake City and its suburbs against Democrat Karen Shepherd. Greene lost by 51 to 47 percent. Greene then became a corporate counsel for a major high-technology company based in Provo, Utah. In August 1993, she married Republican consultant Joe Waldholtz in a ceremony presided over by Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt. Meanwhile, Waldholtz, whom the Salt Lake media had dubbed the “Mormon Maggie Thatcher,” was preparing to run again for the Salt Lake City seat in the U.S. House.</p>

<p>In 1994 Waldholtz challenged the incumbent Karen Shepherd in the general election. She ran on a platform that mirrored much of the Republican “Contract with America”: stressing her conservative values, supporting anti-abortion measures, and calling for welfare reform and budget reductions. Joe Waldholtz joined the campaign as its treasurer. Enid Waldholtz trailed for much of the race, which also included an independent challenger, Merrill Cook. A late infusion of more than $1.5 million, which she claimed as personal and family money, helped her erase a polling deficit through huge direct-mailing efforts and large blocks of television advertising. On Election Day, in the most expensive House race in the nation, Enid Waldholtz handily defeated Shepherd by 46 to 34 percent of the vote; Cook finished with 18 percent.</p>

<p>Enid Greene Mickelsen, formerly Enid Greene Waldholtz (born June 5, 1958), is an American politician from the state of Utah who served one term in the United States House of Representatives. She was the third woman and first Republican woman elected to congress from Utah. Since her retirement in 1997, no woman was elected to Congress from Utah until Mia Love in 2014.</p>

<p>Greene was born in San Rafael, California, to naval officer and financier D. Forrest Greene and Gerda Marie Beyer. She is one of five children. She graduated from East High School and earned her B.A. from the University of Utah in 1980. She received her law degree from Brigham Young University in 1983.</p>

<p>She worked as a lawyer for software company Novell and then at a Salt Lake City law firm. She was deputy chief of staff for Governor Norman H. Bangerter.</p>