Scott McCoy

Scott Daniel McCoy (born August 19, 1970) is an American politician and attorney from Florida. A Democrat, he is a former member of the Utah State Senate, where he represented the state's 2nd senate district which comprises portions of Salt Lake City (map). He resigned from the senate in December 2009 to dedicate himself more fully to his legal career. Early life and career He was educated at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri (B.A., 1992), George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (M.A., 1994) and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City (J.D., 2001). From January 2002 to March 2003, he served as law clerk to Justice Leonard H. Russon of the Utah Supreme Court. Scott was an associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton from January 2001 to December 2001 before moving to Utah to clerk for Justice Russon. After finishing his clerkship he became a member of the Utah Bar and began practicing law at Bendinger, Crockett, Petersen, Greenwood and Casey, where he practiced commercial law with a focus on business litigation, antitrust, and federal securities. Scott was also active in the LGBT rights movement in Utah. He served as a member of the board of Equality Utah. Scott also served as a member of and as chair of the Salt Lake City Police Civilian Review Board. After leaving Utah in 2011, Scott returned to New York City to practice law at Cleary Gottlieb again from 2011 to 2014. Senate career McCoy was appointed to the seat by Utah Democratic Party delegates in February 2005, following the resignation of Senator Paula Julander on health grounds. He beat Julander's husband – longtime party leader Rod Julander – by 44 votes to 41 in the final selection vote. His appointment was then formalized by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. He ran for re-election in 2006 and faced little opposition in this reliably Democratic district, defeating his Republican opponent by more than two-to-one. McCoy, who lives with his husband Mark Barr, was Utah's first-ever openly gay state senator. He and Barr moved to New York City in June 2011, where they got married on July 24, 2011, the first day that same-sex marriages were legal in New York.