Nate Blouin jumps into the race for new Democratic seat — and wants to send a Utah progressive to Congress

WASHINGTON — State Sen. Nate Blouin will run for Utah’s newly redrawn 1st District in next year’s midterm elections, and he views it as an opportunity to do something the Beehive State has never done before: send a progressive to the halls of Congress.

Blouin announced his bid on Sunday morning following weeks of speculation that he would join the already-crowded field of candidates vying to flip one of the four Republican-held House seats in Utah. Blouin will officially launch his campaign on Dec. 1, just one month before candidate filings open for the 2026 election cycle in January.

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“We got an electrifying decision last week that’s a real shot in the arm for progressive Utahns and Democrats across the country,” Blouin told the Deseret News. “I woke up last Tuesday and immediately got to work building out a team focused on electing a progressive from Utah to Congress. I’m excited to hit the ground running.”

Blouin has been considering a congressional run for months, but wasn’t convinced to jump into the race until Third District Judge Dianna Gibson rejected the state legislature’s redrawn map and instead approved one solidifying a safe blue seat in Salt Lake County. The new boundaries cement the district as a D+12 seat — which convinced Blouin to throw his hat in the ring, he told the Deseret News in an interview ahead of his announcement.

The blue district gives Democrats a chance to run farther to the left than candidates have in the past, which Blouin says gives him an opportunity to promote a more progressive platform that challenges the current all-Republican Utah delegation.

When asked how he envisions himself fitting in with his potential colleagues, namely the other Utah Republicans, Blouin simply told the Deseret News: “I won’t.”

“I would be the lone Democrat in Utah’s congressional delegation. I would also be the only one not taking corporate PAC money,” Blouin said. “I wouldn’t fit in. But I’ve never been worried about fitting in. Our current delegation is pushing initiatives that are antithetical to my priorities.”

Blouin views seat as pathway for a Utah progressive

Blouin joins a growing field of candidates who so far have all dipped their toes into the congressional campaign world before. For Blouin, this will be his first time launching a bid for federal office.

But Blouin doesn’t view that as a disadvantage. The Democrat, who has served in the state Senate since 2023, has been quietly watching the redistricting battle and waiting for the right moment to get involved.

Blouin wasn’t going to jump into the race if the district remained Republican-leaning or a tossup, he said. That fight would be more conducive for a moderate candidate, he argued, whereas he only wanted to run if he could champion his progressive policies.

“2026 gives Utah a rare chance to elect a progressive to Congress from a district that has consistently voted blue,” Blouin said. “I’m running on a record of standing up and going against the grain, while others try to run from their values.”

Under the new map, the 1st District covers much of the ground Blouin already represents in the state legislature, stretching from South Salt Lake to Millcreek to parts of Murray. It’s an area Blouin knows well — and holds voters who he says want a change in representation to advocate for policies such as Medicare for All and affordability concerns.

Blouin specifically pointed to issues such as Sen. Mike Lee’s efforts to sell public lands in President Donald Trump’s massive tax bill earlier this summer, noting he would work against that if elected to protect those designations.

“When I say I wouldn’t fit in with our delegation, that’s a badge of honor — and it’s because I would be working tirelessly to counteract the damage they’re doing,” Blouin said.

Blouin has established a reputation as a progressive lawmaker in his relatively short tenure in the state legislature. Alliance for a Better Utah, a left-leaning watchdog group, has consistently given Blouin high ratings for his voting record over the last two years and he’s been quoted by national outlets when responding to Democratic movements in the red state.

Blouin also has an active social media presence where he regularly pushes back against his conservative colleagues, including those currently representing Utah in Congress.

“Support national independent redistricting or sit down,” Blouin wrote in response to Rep. Burgess Owens’ letter against the recent redistricting ruling.

Democrats predict more openings in Utah’s red bastion

Despite being a reliably red state, Blouin said the deep-blue district opens the door for Utahns to elect a progressive candidate who reflects more of the national Democratic Party.

The last time Utah sent a Democrat to Congress, the district was considered a toss-up. That meant former Rep. Ben McAdams relied heavily on his moderate platform to help win over both Democratic and independent voters — something that Blouin said would no longer be needed this time around.

“Let’s be honest: We’re not going to beat Donald Trump and the billionaires buying influence in Washington unless we’re willing to fight,” Blouin said. “I’m willing to go up against the establishment, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans. I’ve developed a reputation for being a fighter for those who get written off and my constituents know I’ll stick up for them. Utah’s new 1st Congressional District deserves a fighter who will meet this unprecedented moment with courage.”

Blouin noted he still considers McAdams, who is also running for the seat, a strong candidate, but he said that the former congressman could have a chance to flip another seat if he ran in one of Utah’s other three districts. The state senator said there’s an appetite among Utah voters to send someone farther to the left to represent the 1st District in Congress, and recent polling could give a sense as to why.

In a recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, Utah Democrats polled farther to the left than those nationwide when it came to views on democratic socialism.

Democratic socialism — the political ideology espoused by New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — was viewed favorably by 61% of Democrats nationally. But it was viewed favorably by 70% of Democrats in Utah.

That dynamic has convinced left-leaning organizers in Utah that they have a better shot of electing a more progressive candidate in the new 1st Congressional District than they do in the Salt Lake City mayoral race or other municipal elections in Democrat-heavy districts.

“That’s something that we are very interested in seeing and I think it’s a possibility in Utah,” said Adrienne Gailey, the co-chair of the Salt Lake chapter of Democratic Socialists of America. “Right now, the focus is on the congressional district.”

It still may be too early to tell which message resonates with voters in the reconfigured district, but Blouin is banking on his prediction that his left-leaning campaign will be preferred over more centrist options.

“In the short time since I began exploring this race, the energy from the hundreds of Utahns who’ve urged me to jump in has been overwhelming,” Blouin said. “They’re ready for a campaign that shakes things up, channels this momentum, and puts the people of CD1 — not the billionaire class — at the center of our politics.”

Brigham Tomco contributed to this report.