Hans V. Andersen, a certified public accountant from Orem, is running for Utah County Auditor in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. He is running on the Independent American Party ticket against Republican Gina Tanner.

Andersen, who says he has more than 40 years of experience as a CPA, said on his campaign website that he wants to bring fiscal accountability to the office. He describes himself as a "DOGE auditor for Utah County."

The information below is drawn from Andersen's campaign website and public candidate listings. Claims reflect the candidate's own statements unless otherwise noted.

Candidate information

  • Party: Independent American
  • Residence: Orem
  • Family: One of 11 children; father of eight sons and a grandfather
  • Military: Served in the United States military, according to his campaign website
  • Profession: CPA and owner of Andersen Accounting, according to his campaign website

Experience and public service

Andersen served as a city council member on the Orem City Council, according to the Independent American Party of Utah's candidate listing.

He said on his campaign website that he has served thousands of Utah County families and businesses through his accounting practice over more than four decades. He also said he served for decades as a scoutmaster, running his church's scouting program.

Andersen said he led the effort to stop a UTOPIA-related property tax increase in Orem. In August 2012, the mayor and five council members moved to raise Orem property taxes by $3,345,000 a year, according to his campaign website. After an eight-hour public hearing, the mayor cut the proposal in half, Andersen said. The remaining portion went to a ballot, and on Nov. 5, 2013, 71.26% of Orem voters rejected the increase, Andersen said.

He also said he filed open-records requests at his own expense and took evidence of what he called taxpayer-funded politicking to the county, triggering an investigation.

On the issues

Open records and public access: Andersen said he once paid nearly $500 of his own money and waited four months for public records he believes should have been free and immediate. As auditor, he pledges to make county finances open by default so no citizen has to fight for the numbers, according to his campaign platform.

Fiscal transparency: Andersen pledges to audit every dollar "as if it were the taxpayer's own," publish plain-English reports, shine a light on debt before it is incurred, treat every department and business equally and answer only to the people of Utah County, according to his campaign platform.

Government efficiency: "There is no entity on earth less efficient than a government entity," Andersen states on his platform page. "I'm not there to grow the county's budget. I'm there to save you money."