Accomplished skier and mountaineer Caroline Gleich has summited Mount Everest and other high peaks around the world, but this week, she set out to face what might be her biggest challenge yet: she’s running for the U.S. Senate.
Gleich announced her campaign on Monday to replace Mitt Romney as the senator from Utah. “I am terrified and excited, but this is a really cool opportunity,” she said in a social media post.
According to Utah’s election office, Gleich will be running as a Democrat and face off against two other primary candidates, but the challenge seems to be far greater than that. Republicans have filled Utah’s U.S. senate seats exclusively since 1977.
What’s more, three out of the four House seats in Utah currently belong to Republicans, Republicans have controlled all branches of state government since 2000, and the state has been reliable for Republican presidential candidates since 1968. However, Gleich said she’s not phased by the figurative uphill climb.
“I have always been an underdog for my entire life, and when I told people about my dreams of climbing and skiing the biggest mountains in the world, they told me you’re too small and delicate, you are not strong enough, you don’t look like a mountaineer, so I’m used to doing what people tell me isn’t possible,” she said.
On her campaign website, Gleich, who has testified on Capitol Hill on climate change, describes herself as transforming her fame and athletic achievements “into a podium for change, shedding light on critical environmental issues.”
Utah’s Democratic party will hold primary elections in June, and the general election in November.