McCoy is leaving Legislature to focus on his legal career

Utah's only openly gay state senator, Democrat Scott McCoy, said Tuesday he is resigning.

"It's just a work thing," McCoy told the Deseret News. "If I want to be a partner in my law firm and have a robust legal career, I have to be a lawyer rather than a politician."

McCoy said his resignation will be effective Friday. He would have been up for re-election from his Salt Lake City district next year, but said he had already decided not to run.

McCoy is a lawyer specializing in federal securities and antitrust litigation with the Salt Lake office of Howrey LLP, a firm based in Washington, D.C., that employs 750 lawyers worldwide. He said he currently has a major trial scheduled to start Feb. 15, about midway through the 2010 Legislature.

"I need to be available to do that," McCoy said, describing the case as involving accounting malpractice.

Still, he said it was a tough decision. "I do have a little sadness and I'm sorry we'll be losing that little bit of diversity from the Senate," McCoy said. "But good things can and still will happen whether or not I'm there, or a gay person is in the Senate."

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said he'll miss McCoy. "He and I disagree on political subjects. But this is a fine guy. I've come to really respect him," said Buttars, an outspoken opponent of gay rights.

When McCoy was chosen to fill a Senate vacancy in 2004, Buttars referred to him as "the gay" and expressed surprise at the delegates' choice. "I was wrong," Buttars said Tuesday. "This guy is an intelligent, real smart guy on a lot of issues. He represents them well. Scott McCoy isn't a one-issue guy like a lot of people think he is."

Senate Minority Leader Pat Jones, D-Holladay, said the Senate is "losing, I think, one of the brightest minds in the Legislature" who was respected by both sides of the aisle "because he was Scott, not because of his sexual preference."

Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said McCoy was seen as a Democrat who could be reasoned with by the GOP majority.

"I don't look at him as a gay senator. I look at him as a senator," Waddoups said, adding he was surprised by McCoy's resignation. "I didn't see it coming at this point. I thought he was doing work that was needful for the gay and lesbian community in our state."