Utah Democrats will back an independent Evan McMullin, John Curtis facing primary challenger
Apr 23, 2022, 5:11 PM | Updated: 5:29 pm
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, walks onto the stage to speak to delegates during the GOP State Convention at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy on Saturday, April 23, 2022. Lee was one of several Utah leaders to take to social media on Tuesday, May 22, 2022 to react to the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (Adam Fondren for the Deseret News)
(Adam Fondren for the Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Democrats won’t be putting forward a challenger for Republican Sen. Mike Lee, but instead are joining forces with a known, though independent name.
Evan McMullin’s campaign now has the backing of more of Utah’s Democrats in his race to unseat the senior senator than the Democrat in the race, Kael Weston.
BREAKING:
Option 1, to nominate @KaelWeston got 595 votes.
Option 2, to join @EvanMcMullin got over 700 votes. @UtahDemocrats delegates have voted to NOT put forth own candidate #utpol
— Katie McKellar (@KatieMcKellar1) April 23, 2022
Over on the GOP side of things, Lee won his party’s nomination Saturday afternoon, receiving over 70% of the vote.
Lee’s text message exchange wither former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has been front and center in the days ahead of today’s convention. He says he was not trying to overturn the election.
“I’m going to continue to focus on what I believe in and what I’m doing,” Lee told reporters after the vote.
The incumbent has two challengers, Becky Edwards and Ally Isom, who will also be on the primary ballot. All three candidates gathered enough signatures to guarantee their names to be printed.
A primary for the third congressional district
Congressman John Curtis faced another hard convention this afternoon. From five candidates, we got down to two.
Curtis will see a primary challenger in Chris Herrod. Herrod got 54% of the delegate vote, while Curtis got 41.77% of the vote.
#BREAKING @CurtisUT is heading to a primary election with Chris Herrod. Curtis got 45% of delegate support to Herrod’s 54%. Neither of them gathered signatures and Curtis has not done well at conventions, historically, so he lives to see another day in office. @kslnewsradio
— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) April 23, 2022
In order for a candidate to be the only GOP nominee, they have to get 60% of the delegate vote. If no one gets that much, the top two appear on the primary ballot. That’s what we’re seeing with Curtis and Herrod.
Here’s what happened with the other congressional districts
In the first congressional district, there will be three people on the primary ballot: Congressman Blake Moore, Andrew Badger and Tina Cannon.
#BREAKING RESULTS @ElectBlakeMoore in Congressional District 1 will have a primary against Andrew Badger, who won at convention, and Tina Cannon who gathered signatures. #utpol
— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) April 23, 2022
Badger won at the convention; Cannon gathered signatures.
For the second congressional district, incumbent Congressman Chris Stewart was the overwhelming nominee, but he’ll still have a challenger.
#BREAKING RESULTS @RepChrisStewart won his convention bid handily against Erin Rider, making him the official nominee for @GOPUtah. @ErinRiderUtah, however, already has signatures and a lot of money. They’re both on to the Primary. #utpol
— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) April 23, 2022
Those registered Republicans in the fourth congressional district will have two choices on their primary ballot.
Congressman Burgess Owens won his delegate vote, but challenger Jake Hunsaker will be on the ballot after gathering enough signatures as well.
In Utah CD4, @BurgessOwens wins nomination but will face @JakeHunsaker in primary election due to signature gathering. #utpol
— Dennis Romboy (@dennisromboy) April 23, 2022
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
