6 Utah Democrats compete for newly drawn seat in Congress

SALT LAKE CITY – Six Democrats will try to stand out this weekend in the race for Utah’s new 1st Congressional District.

The Utah Democratic Party convention, which takes place on Saturday at Jordan High School in Sandy, is the first key milestone in this race that’s gotten a lot of attention ever since Utah got a new congressional map.

Unlike the other three districts in Utah, the 1st Congressional District isn’t geographically large. But it has a lot of people. It’s entirely concentrated in Salt Lake County.

“We see this as a district that is going to be probably supporting a Democratic candidate,” said University of Utah political science professor Tim Chambless.

Who’s the frontrunner?

Chambless told KSL of the six Democrats running, he considers former Congressman Ben McAdams the frontrunner with strong name recognition and a lot of money.

In an interview on Wednesday, McAdams said he’s been meeting with Democratic delegates ahead of Saturday’s convention and pitching his track record as a state senator, Salt Lake County mayor, and one-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“I am somebody who tackles tough issues, and I get it done,” McAdams said.

While McAdams is competing at the convention this weekend, he also gathered signatures to land a spot on the primary ballot in June.

“People are counting on us, not to just send tweets and to say the right thing. Everybody in this race says the right thing,” McAdams said. “I’m the only candidate in this race who has actually made progress on the issues that we care about.”

Race hit by scandal

Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, is also on the primary ballot.

“Our campaign is still the only viable campaign aside from McAdams in this race,” said Blouin, who has positioned himself as a progressive fighter and received endorsements from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, and Congressman Ro Khanna, D-CA.

But Blouin is also facing pushback over past online posts about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and victims of sexual assault that were crude and offensive. Blouin apologized for the posts, saying they were “vulgar, stupid, and reflect a version of me in my early twenties that I’m ashamed of and have thankfully evolved past.”

In an interview with KSL on Wednesday, Blouin elaborated on that.

“I was horrified when I read what I had written a number of years ago,” Blouin said. “That doesn’t excuse it, but I felt physically ill for a couple days after having to put people through that.”

However, Blouin added, “I’ve been happy to have a lot of grace, I think, from folks and to have a recognition that we can’t write off an entire generation for bad mistakes they made online.”

Candidate looks to move up

Meanwhile, another candidate who is close to securing a spot in the June primary, Liban Mohamed, is trying to move up in the race.

“This is the most progressive open seat in the entire nation,” said Mohamed, who held a news conference Wednesday morning to tout endorsements from former state Sen. Derek Kitchen and current House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, and the Utah State Progressive Caucus.

“I can see a lot of people coming out that normally wouldn’t vote, to vote for him, because they know he’s had similar experiences,” said Romero. “I just feel like he brings this new fresh energy.”

Mohamed downplayed the better-known candidates in the race.

“I think what voters ultimately care about is having representation they trust, representation that has proven results,” said Mohamed, who has worked at TikTok, Meta, the American Heart Association, and Zions Bancorporation. “And most importantly, representation that has integrity.”

Other Democrats running for the 1st Congressional District include Salt Lake City Councilmember Eva Lopez Chavez, attorney Michael Farrell, and West Valley native Luis Villareal.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Farrell had submitted enough signatures to qualify for the June primary, while Lopez Chavez was just about 1,800 signatures shy of the threshold, according to the lieutenant governor’s office.

Looking ahead

Whatever happens, Chambless, the political science professor, predicts it will be exciting at this weekend’s convention – and beyond.

“We expect a very large voter turnout on June 23 for the primary,” he said.

Four Republicans are also running for the 1st Congressional District – Stone Fonua, Jonathan Lopez, Riley Owen, and Dave Robinson. Libertarian Jesse West has also filed to run.