Democrat exits Utah state Senate race, backs Forward Party candidate

03 Sep 2026, 03:08 by Bridger Beal-Cvetko ksl · KSL.com

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Democrat Mackenzie Miller exited Utah's Senate District 11 race, endorsing Forward Party's Emily Buss.
Miller's withdrawal could simplify Buss' reelection path in a two-person against Republican Brooks Benson in November.
The seat is a rare state legislative seat that could change party control this year.

SALT LAKE CITY — A Democratic candidate for Utah's Senate District 11 dropped out of the race last week, potentially giving Utah's only third-party lawmaker a simpler path to reelection this fall.

Mackenzie Miller, a Democrat and Navy veteran, said he was ending his campaign and would support Forward Party Sen. Emily Buss over Republican Brooks Benson in the November general election.

"It's with a heavy heart and a burdened conscience that I've decided to withdraw from my Senate District 11 race," Miller wrote on social media. "It's been made apparent that many organizations are unwilling to contribute to this race when it remains a 3-way race and rather than let my pride get in the way of keeping a conservative out of this seat, I've decided to give Sen. Buss the resources she needs to try to keep this seat."

"I'll still be fighting for a better Utah," he added.

The seat, which covers western Salt Lake and Utah counties and much of Tooele County, is a rare legislative seat that could switch parties this fall. The seat was previously won by a Republican, former Sen. Daniel Thatcher of West Valley City, in 2022, but Thatcher broke with his party and joined the Forward Party in March of 2025.

He then stepped down from his seat late last year, giving the Forward Party the chance to select his replacement. Buss won an open preference poll to fill the seat ahead of this year's general legislative session.

Buss' appointment rankled some GOP lawmakers, who believed the seat should have been filled by Republican, since Thatcher was elected as a member of that party. Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, ran a bill that would have required future vacancies to be filled by someone of the same party the resigning member was at the time of their last election. The bill was changed to remove that provision before it was passed.

Although Senate District 11 still likely gives an edge to the Republican, the Forward Party seemed optimistic about the new two-person race between Buss and Benson.

"Voters will now have a choice between the Forward Party incumbent and her Republican challenger. By re-electing Sen. Emily Buss, voters have a chance to reject partisan politics-as-usual," Forward Party Chairman Phil Boileau.

Buss added that she answers "only to the voters, not party insiders."

In a statement, Benson said he is "focused on meeting and talking to the people of District 11 about the most important issues our communities are facing."

"Listening to the voters is my No. 1 priority," he added. "From my conversations, it's clear that we need to cut government waste, lower taxes, stop government mass surveillance and prioritize road infrastructure throughout District 11. I'm prepared to serve through listening to the people who live in this district and giving them true representation."

Election Day is Nov. 3.

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.

Democrat exits Utah state Senate race, backs Forward Party candidate

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