The approximately 4,000 Republican delegates have a jam-packed day ahead of them when they assemble at the Salt Palace on Saturday morning. During the Republican State Nominating Convention, they will vote for nominees in more than a dozen races, plus consider changes to the party platform and several non-binding resolutions.
The GOP agenda is so tight that candidates in the high-profile gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races are limited to four minutes to make their final pitch to delegates.
Democratic’ nominating convention, which will be held on the same day at Cottonwood High School, will have much less drama and far fewer contested races.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for candidates who decided against collecting signatures to advance to the June 25 primary election. Republican candidates must secure at least 40% of the delegate vote to avoid elimination from the race or 60% to win the convention nomination outright. Democratic candidates need 55% to secure the nomination, or the top two vote-getters advance to their primary.
U.S. Senate
Ten Republicans are vying for the party nomination to replace Mitt Romney, who is retiring from Congress after one term. As of Thursday morning, three have already secured a spot in the primary.
Already qualified for the GOP primary via signatures: Brad Wilson, John Curtis and Jason Walton.
Leaving it up to GOP delegates: Trent Staggs, Brent Hatch, Carolyn Phippen, Josh Randall, Chandler Tanner, Jeremy Friedbaum and Brian Jenkins.
None of the three Democrats in the race — Caroline Gleich, Laird Hamblin and Archie Williams — collected signatures, leaving their fate up to the delegates.
Governor
Incumbent Spencer Cox is the only Republican not facing elimination from the race on Saturday. Phil Lyman, Carson Jorgensen, Sylvia Miera-Fisk and Scott Robbins must receive at least 40% of the vote from delegates to advance to the primary election.
Four years ago, Cox collected signatures but also won the delegate vote. One year later, delegates loudly jeered Cox at the 2021 Utah Republican State Convention and he has received a chilly reception from delegates at some of the county conventions this year.
It would not be unprecedented if Cox were bested in the convention by a challenger. In 2016, then-Gov. Gary Herbert collected signatures, which proved to be a prescient move as he lost the convention vote to former Overstock.com CEO Jonathan Johnson 55-44%. Herbert crushed Johnson in the GOP primary by more than 40 points.
Brian King is unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination.
The GOP convention rules specify that delegates must ratify the candidates’ choice of a running mate before they can appear on the ballot. A small number of GOP delegates, motivated by conspiracy theories and former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, hope to block Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Utah’s top elections official, from appearing on the ballot as Cox’s running mate.
Congress
Utah’s 3rd Congressional District seat is up for grabs after Rep. John Curtis jumped into the U.S. Senate race. Nine Republicans hope to succeed Curtis in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The crowded field includes four former congressional candidates: State Sen. Mike Kennedy, Chris Herrod, Stewart Peay and Lucky Bovo. Herrod lost the GOP primary to Curtis in 2022, 2018 and 2017. Mitt Romney defeated Kennedy in the 2018 GOP U.S. Senate primary. Peay did not advance past the 2017 3rd District special election convention, while Bovo was a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Four candidates have already qualified for the GOP primary via signatures. Two other candidates could potentially advance to the primary from the convention.
Already qualified for the GOP primary election via signatures: John Dougall, JR Bird, Case Lawrence and Stewart Peay.
Must get at least 40% from delegates to advance: Mike Kennedy, Chris Herrod, Zac Wilson, Kathryn Dahlin and Lucky Bovo.
Democrat Glen Wright is unopposed for the party nomination.
Rep. Celeste Maloy has only been in office for five months after winning the special election to replace her boss, former Rep. Chris Stewart, in Congress. She drew two Republican challengers: Colby Jenkins and Ty Jensen.
On Thursday afternoon, less than two days before the convention, Sen. Mike Lee gave his “full support” to Jenkins’ bid to unseat incumbent Maloy.
“Too many Republicans in Congress have voted to expand the size, scope, and cost of the federal government, in many cases deferring to congressional GOP leaders bent on advancing the Democrats’ agenda,” Lee said in a statement announcing this endorsement. “Now more than ever we need bold conservatives in Congress.”
Delegates will determine which candidates advance beyond Saturday in the 2nd Congressional District, as none of the three collected signatures.
Democrats will officially nominate Brian Adams for District 2 on Saturday.
Rep. Blake Moore has two convention challengers, Paul Miller and Derek Draper, for the party nomination in the 1st Congressional District. Moore collected signatures and cannot be eliminated from the race by delegates.
Burgess Owens is the only incumbent Republican member of Congress who is unopposed on Saturday. Jonathan Lopez and Katrina Fallick-Wang are seeking the Democratic nomination to face Owens in November.
Attorney general
After scandal forced Republican Sean Reyes to abandon his pursuit of another term as Attorney General, four Republicans lined up to replace him.
Former State Rep. Derek Brown has already qualified for the primary through signatures, leaving Rachel Terry, Trent Christensen and Frank Mylar hoping to get enough support from delegates to continue in the race beyond Saturday.
Democrats will decide between Rudy Bautista and David Carlson for the party nomination.
State auditor
Current Auditor John Dougall is not seeking a fourth term in office and is instead running for the open 3rd Congressional District seat. Two Republicans, Weber County Clerk/Auditor Ricky Hatch and Tina Cannon, Dougall’s current senior policy advisor, face off for the Republican nomination on Saturday.
Democrat Katherine Voutaz is unopposed.
Utah Legislature
Republican delegates will cast ballots in a handful of state legislative nominating contests on Saturday.
Sen. Todd Weiler has two challengers, Brady Tracy and Ronald Mortensen, in SD8. Weiler has already qualified for the primary through signatures.
Heidi Balderee was picked by GOP delegates to replace Sen. Jake Anderegg in October. Two of the candidates she defeated in that race, Emily Lockhart and Garrett Cammans, have already qualified for the primary through signatures. Balderee needs at least 40% of delegates to keep her hopes of a full term in the Legislature alive.
Longtime GOP Sen. Curt Bramble abandoned his reelection bid in March, leaving three former or current Republican legislators in the race. Current Rep. Keven Stratton and former Sen. Dan Hemmert collected signatures to secure a spot in the primary. Former Rep. Brad Daw needs at least 40% of the delegate vote to advance.
Rep. Phil Lyman’s seat in HD69 is up for grabs because of his gubernatorial bid. Republican Lynn Jackson has collected signatures, while Logan Monson and Douglas Heaton will try to convince delegates to send them to the primary election.
Three candidates, Brian Nielson, Troy Shelley and Linda Hanks, are pursuing the open seat following Rep. Steven Lund’s decision to retire. None of the candidates submitted signatures.
A trio of Republican incumbents face intra-party challengers on Saturday. House Speaker Mike Schultz and Rep. Christine Watkins collected signatures, so they are not in danger of being ousted. Rep. Scott Chew and challenger Kenyen Wilkins are putting their fates in the hands of delegates.
Update. 8:30 a.m. • This was story updated after Brent Hatch failed to get enough signitures to qualify for the Republican primary and to include Sen. Mike Lee’s endorsement of Colby Jenkins.
