Races that stand out the most within the Utah Legislature
Jan 9, 2026, 3:08 PM
The Capitol is pictured in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News)
(Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The filing deadline for political candidates who want to run in Utah’s 2026 midterm election ended on Thursday.
All of Utah’s 75 House members are up for re-election because they have to run every two years. And about half of the Utah Senate is running, because they run every four years.
Inside Sources hosts Holly Richardson and Greg Skordas walked through the Utah races that stand out the most. What follows is a transcript of some of their conversation. The complete podcast is below.
KSL NewsRadio edited the following transcript for brevity.
District 10 has an open seat
RICHARDSON: “One of the surprises was Ann Millner decided not to run, so, state Sen. Ann Millner [R-Ogden] has really been involved with education policies, higher ed – she’s even been part of leadership in the Senate – she’s not running again. And she did not make that announcement, she just didn’t file (for re-election.)”
RICHARDSON: “Jill Koford [R-Ogden] filed. She’s District 10, she’s in the House, she’s now filed to run for Senate which means that seat was open. So, Rosemary Lesser, who used to be in the seat, who Koford beat in a close election, Rosemary has filed to run again. She’s not the only one who has filed, but District 10 ended up with an open seat and so you have this little domino effect that happens.”
SKORDAS: “Rosemary Lesser was, at the time, the only Democrat north of Salt Lake County that was in the state legislature. After she lost in 2024, we didn’t have one north of Salt Lake County, so that seat’s now open again.”
Three Republican challengers
RICHARDSON: “President Stuart Adams [R-Layton] – he has three Republican challengers, including Stephanie Hollist, the general council for Weber State. Jennifer Garner, she’s previously run for the legislature, she teaches at WSU. And Braden Hess, who’s an estate planning attorney and former lawyer for the legislature’s Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.”
SKORDAS: “So, an impressive group of candidates running against (Adams.)”
Listen👇 to the full podcast episode
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