Expect some turnover in the Utah Legislature next year — but it won’t be because of this year’s primary elections. As it stands on Wednesday, only two incumbents look to be on track to lose their seats in the Utah Capitol.
According to unofficial results, Reps. Jeff Stenquist, R-Draper, and Joel Briscoe, D-Salt Lake City, were the only incumbents trailing challengers.
Stenquist is trailing Draper City Council Member Cal Roberts in House District 46 by more than 43 percentage points. Roberts drubbed Stenquist in the delegate vote at the Salt Lake County convention by a similar margin.
Briscoe’s 14-year tenure in the Legislature could be coming to an end as he trails Grant Miller by 311 votes in the three-way Democratic primary in House District 24.
[READ: Mapping how Utahns voted in Utah’s 2024 legislative primary election]
Several other incumbents appeared to stave off intra-party challengers on Tuesday. Sens. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, Don Ipson, R-St. George, and Reps. Michael Petersen, R-North Logan, Trevor Lee, R-Layton, Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan and Christine Watkins, R-Price, all held leads over their opponents after Tuesday night.
On its surface, Lee’s apparent victory over former Davis County GOP Chair Daniela Harding in House District 16 was a battle between the convention and signature path to the ballot — Lee won the delegate vote at convention while Harding qualified for the primary through signatures. The race also served as a proxy battle between Gov. Spencer Cox, who backed Harding, and the Utah House of Representatives GOP majority.
Lee received $8,000 in donations from House Speaker Mike Schultz’s leadership PAC and $1,500 from the House Republican election PAC. Schultz also endorsed Lee before the race, which was a dramatic about-face by Schultz, who condemned Lee in 2022 after The Salt Lake Tribune revealed he posted conspiracy theories, anti-LGBTQ, and misogynistic comments on social media using an anonymous account. Lee also reported $10,000 in financial support from the Davis County Republican Party.
Cox and his allies were big financial backers of Harding’s effort to oust Lee. Cox’s campaign donated $25,000 to Harding, including a $15,000 donation in mid-June ahead of the primary. “All In for Utah,” a 501(C)(4) group headed by longtime Cox ally Owen Fuller, made over $38,000 of in-kind donations to Harding’s campaign.
The three-way primary in Senate District 22 has been the most expensive legislative primary election in 2024. Incumbent state Rep. Heidi Balderree and GOP challengers Emily Lockhart and Brett Cammans have spent a combined $204,403 on the race.
The Lee/Harding race has been the most expensive Utah House race involving an incumbent this year, costing just over $75,000. The House District 46 matchup between Stenquist and Roberts is right behind, costing $74,000.
But the honor for the most expensive state House primary election this cycle is the Democratic House District 23 contest, where Hoang Nguyen and Jeff Howell have spent a combined $191,830 pursuing the seat currently occupied by Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, who is the Democratic nominee for governor.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Nguyen leads that race 57% to 43%.
