Utah GOPers, Dems put emphasis on a handful of House, Senate races as ballots trickle in

31 Oct 2024, 01:04 by Tim Vandenack, KSL.com · KSL.com

Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Fifteen of 29 Utah Senate posts and all 75 Utah House seats are up for grabs on Election Day, but the races aren't all nail-biters.
There are a handful of potentially competitive races getting particular focus around the state, mainly in the Salt Lake County area.
There will be 16 new faces in the Utah Legislature come 2025.

SALT LAKE CITY — Fifteen of 29 Utah Senate posts and all 75 Utah House seats are up for grabs on Election Day, but the races aren't all nail-biters.

Setting aside the dominance of the Republican party in the state, 23 of the races — three in the Senate and 20 in the House — are uncontested, the results a foregone conclusion.

Still, with mail-in ballots already trickling in, there are a handful of potentially competitive races getting particular focus around the state, mainly in the Salt Lake County area, where the Democratic Party holds more sway. What's more, with 16 incumbent lawmakers opting not to seek reelection, at least to the posts they currently hold, or ousted in the primary process, there will be new faces in the Utah Legislature come 2025, at least two in the Senate and 14 in the House.

Here's a look at some of the races Utah party leaders say are getting their attention, the most competition seeming to be in a handful of House contests, as the push to secure support among undecided voters reaches a finale:

House District 10

The race for the post serving Weber County is one of the few outside Salt Lake County getting intense focus. Incumbent Rep. Rosemary Lesser, an Ogden Democrat, faces a challenge, again, from Republican Jill Koford, also of Ogden. Koford unsuccessfully tried to unseat Lesser in 2022.

"That's the only position not held by a Republican," Weber County Republican Party Chairman Jackson Wing said, alluding to the party affiliation of the county's delegation. In fact, not only is Lesser the only Democrat in Weber County's delegation, she's the only elected Democrat in the Legislature from outside Salt Lake County.

Maile Dorland votes early at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday.Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

A lot of money and effort is being spent on the race from the GOP side, Wing said. Likewise, Utah Democratic Party Communications Director Mason Hughes said it's a priority for Democrats. "Dr. Lesser is loved by that community," Hughes said.

So far this year through Oct. 24, according to campaign finance reports due Tuesday, Koford had received $165,410 in contributions compared to $144,182.31 for Lesser. That's more money than generated in any of the other House races getting heightened attention from the two parties.

House Districts 26, 27 and 30

Republicans narrowly won the three Salt Lake County seats in 2022 and they're a focus for leaders from both parties this cycle.

The District 26 race features incumbent Rep. Matt MacPherson, a Republican picked to fill the post after Quinn Cotter stepped down in 2023, and Democratic challenger Jeanetta Williams, who heads the Salt Lake Branch of the NAACP. In 2022, Cotter defeated Democrat Elizabeth Weight, then the incumbent, for the District 26 seat by a 50.7%-49.3% split.

The District 27 race features incumbent Rep. Anthony Loubet, a Republican, and Democrat Dawn Stevenson. In 2022, Loubet defeated Democrat Clare Collard, then the incumbent, by a 50.4%-49.6% margin.

The District 30 race features Democrat Jake Fitisemanu, a member of the West Valley City Council, and Republican Fred Cox, who served in the Utah House in the 2010s. Rep. Judy Weeks Rohner, a Republican, now holds the post, but she's vying this cycle for the District 12 seat in the Utah Senate.

Rohner won the seat in 2022 by a relatively narrow margin, garnering 48.7% of the vote to 45.1% for Democrat Fatima Dirie and 6.2% for United Utah hopeful Evan Rodgers.

House District 35

With longtime Democratic incumbent Rep. Mark Wheatley opting not to vie for reelection this cycle, both parties are making a big push for the District 35 post in Salt Lake County. Wheatley was first elected to the seat in 2004.

Running are Republican Mike Bird, who works as director of operations and finance for University of Utah Health, and Democrat Rosalba Dominguez, a member of the Murray City Council. Wheatley is backing Dominguez, according to Hughes.

House District 42

With incumbent Rep. Robert Spendlove, a Republican, not seeking reelection, Republican Clint Okerlund and Democrat Trevor Smith have their eyes on the Sandy area seat.

"We just want to make sure we win that back," said Chris Null, chairman of the Salt Lake County Republican Party. Hughes, though, maintains that the Sandy area is shifting "in a very moderate direction," creating an opportunity for Democrats.

Two incumbent House members, District 23 Rep. Brian King, a Democrat, and District 69 Rep. Phil Lyman, a Republican, are running for Utah governor this cycle, opening up their posts to newcomers. King is vying on the Democratic ticket to unseat Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, while Lyman is waging a write-in campaign.

Running for the District 23 seat, which covers parts of Salt Lake and Summit counties, are Democrat Hoang Nguyen, Republican Scott Romney and United Utah hopeful Cabot Nelson. Running for the District 69 post, which covers parts of Emery, Garfield, Grand, Kane, San Juan and Wayne counties, are Republican Logan Monson and Democrat Davina Smith.

Other House incumbents not on the general election ballot include Republicans Tim Jimenez in District 28, Dan Johnson in District 23, Susan Pulsipher in District 45, James Cobb in District 48, Kevin Stratton in District 58, Steven Lund in District 66 and Cal Musselman in District 9. Musselman is vying, uncontested, for the District 4 Utah Senate post this cycle.

Democratic House members not on the ballot include Joel Briscoe in District 24 and Brett Garner in District 31.

Senate races getting attention

Hughes said Democrats are zeroing in on the District 3 Senate contest. Null said the District 10, 12 and 15 Utah Senate races are on GOPers' radar screen.

Senate District 3

The race for the seat serving parts of Weber, Morgan and Summit counties features incumbent Sen. John Johnson, a Republican, and Democrat Stacy Bernal, a member of the Ogden school board.

The Utah Democratic Party issued a statement Thursday saying a Change Research poll shows the two candidates each with 45% backing from respondents with the remaining 10% undecided. "After months of work and years of advocating for the community, momentum has shifted towards Democratic candidate, Stacy Bernal," reads the statement.

Wing, the chairman of the Weber County Republican Party, offered supportive words for Johnson. "He's got a great track record," he said.

Notably, Bernal has outpaced Johnson, one of the more conservative lawmakers in the Senate, by a wide margin in year-to-date contributions through Oct. 24, the end of the last reporting cycle. She reported $134,609.45, much of it from small donors, while Johnson had generated $48,701, though he had leftover funds as well from before 2024.

Senate District 10

The race for the Salt Lake County post features incumbent Sen. Luz Escamilla, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Kyle Erb. While a focus, Null nevertheless characterized the contest as an "uphill" fight for GOPers.

Senate District 12

Sen. Karen Kwan, the Democratic incumbent, is facing a challenge from Rohner, the Republican District 30 House representative. Rohner has mustered bipartisan backing for her efforts to scale back the state tax on food, Null said. Whatever the case, Kwan has a big edge in fundraising so far this year, nearly $200,000 through Oct. 24 compared to less than $10,000 for Rohner.

Senate District 15

Incumbent Sen. Kathleen Riebe, a Democrat, is facing a challenge from Republican Scott Cuthbertson for the Salt Lake County post. Null said polling he's seen indicates voters are "looking for something new." Cuthbertson had outpaced Riebe in year-to-date fundraising with $106,000 to about $50,000 for the incumbent and had also outspent her.

Two incumbent senators, both Republicans, aren't seeking reelection this cycle: Curtis Bramble in District 24 and David Buxton in District 4. Republican Kevin Stratton and Lori Spruance, who's unaffiliated, are running for the District 24 post, which covers parts of Utah and Wasatch counties. Musselman, now serving in the House, is the sole hopeful for the District 4 seat, covering parts of Weber and Davis counties.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.