60 days out: Your one-story stop for Utah’s biggest general election races

Utah is barely catching its breath from a bruising series of Republican primary elections with just two months to go until Election Day in November.

This year has already seen the most competitive GOP field for an open Senate seat in 30 years, the closest recount in a House race in decades, and an unusually difficult reelection bid for a sitting governor that led to an alliance between his failed primary challenger and the Democratic nominee — all before Labor Day.

But general election season has just begun.

Starting next week, GOP primary victors for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and gubernatorial elections in Utah will debate their Democratic opponents. By mid-October, voters will be receiving their mail-in ballots. And in 60 days, on Nov. 5, Election Day results will begin to roll in.

Here is a preview of Utah’s biggest statewide and congressional races, as well as a review of the issues, endorsements and lawsuits that have made the 2024 election cycle stand out.

Who will fill Utah’s open congressional seats?

This year, Utahns will be electing a new senator to replace Sen. Mitt Romney, who announced one year ago that he would not seek reelection after his first six-year term in office.

Republican Rep. John Curtis won the GOP primary, and is running against Democrat Caroline Gleich for U.S. Senate to take Romney’s place. Curtis has represented Utah’s 3rd Congressional District since 2017, following eight years as the mayor of Provo and a decade running a gun range manufacturing business. Gleich is a political newcomer with a background as a professional skier, climate lobbyist and online influencer.

Curtis’ bid for Senate left his House seat open for the first time since former Rep. Jason Chaffetz resigned in 2017. Republican voters’ pick to succeed Curtis in the 3rd Congressional District is state Sen. Mike Kennedy , R-Alpine. The Democratic nominee is former Summit County Councilman Glenn Wright .

Kennedy is a family physician in Lindon and has served in the state legislature since 2020, where he said he represents roughly 20% of the 3rd District’s population. Wright is a Vietnam War veteran and former insurance consultant who ran against Curtis in the 3rd District’s 2022 general election.

Which incumbents are running for reelection?

Republican incumbents will defend their seats in Utah’s remaining three congressional districts. Utah senior Sen. Mike Lee is not up for reelection this year.

• 1st Congressional District : Rep. Blake Moore will face his former GOP convention challenger — now registered as a Democrat — Bill Campbell .
• 2nd Congressional District : Rep. Celeste Maloy will face attorney Nathaniel Woodward .
• 4th Congressional District : Rep. Burgess Owens will face marketing professional Katrina Fallick-Wang .

The race for Utah governor will pit Gov. Spencer Cox against former Utah House Minority Leader Brian King , D-Salt Lake City. State Rep. Phil Lyman , R-Blanding, who lost to Cox in the GOP primary, is running as a write-in candidate.

Cox is finishing his first four-year term after serving seven years as lieutenant governor and as a state lawmaker, county commissioner and telecommunications executive before that. King is an attorney focusing on denied insurance claims who has served in the state House since 2009. Lyman is a a Certified Public Accountant who served as a San Juan County Commissioner before getting elected to the Utah House in 2018.

What do the polls say?

The winners of Utah’s Republican Party primary elections are heavily favored to win in November.

A recent Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found that Curtis holds a 34-percentage-point lead over Gleich among registered Utah voters. When undecided voters were asked to choose between the two candidates, Curtis’ lead grew to more than 40 percentage points.

The same was true of the gubernatorial race. Cox led King by 40 percentage points in a head-to-head contest, the poll found. His hypothetical winning margin increased by 4 percentage points when undecided voters indicated which direction they leaned.

Given these polling results, in a state that regularly elects Republicans by a 20 or 30-point margin, it is unlikely that Utah voters will see any surprises in the general election. Lyman’s write-in effort — despite featuring a viral ad with King — appears unlikely to make the race competitive, let alone change the outcome, according to state lawmakers and experienced GOP operatives.

What are the top issues?

Congressional candidates in Utah have focused their messages on the national issues they think Utah voters are most concerned about. But that emphasis varies widely between Republican and Democratic candidates.

Senate race : Curtis has touted his productive tenure in Congress, promising to continue working on clean energy innovation, state control of public lands and reforms to costly federal welfare programs. Gleich vows to take a more aggressive approach on climate issues through “systemic” investments in renewable energy sources. She has also messaged heavily on abortion access.

3rd District race : Kennedy has said he would tackle federal deficits by rightsizing government healthcare programs and would support enhanced border security measures. Wright also sees national debt as an issue, but wants to start by increasing tax revenue. He has prioritized a message of bodily autonomy on abortion and transgender treatments and has said the U.S. should allow more legal immigration.

In June, a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found that Beehive State voters are most worried about the country’s economic trajectory. When asked which issues were most impactful to their vote, 24% of Utahns said inflation, 21% said jobs, 13% said immigration and 11% said “family values, morality, or faith.”

In its latest report , released Thursday, the Utah Foundation think tank found Utah voters consider housing affordability, government responsiveness and inflation as the most important issues in the state. Government overreach and partisanship in politics also made the top five.

Governor’s race : Cox has campaigned on his support of tax cuts and abortion restrictions, as well as laws protecting children on social media and incentivizing starter home construction. King opposed much of Cox’s agenda in the Legislature and frames his candidacy as a way to restore balance to Utah’s Republican supermajority government. Lyman has criticized Cox for not taking a harder line on social issues and immigration.

General election timeline

The Utah Debate Commission will partner with several universities to host one debate for each of the congressional races, the gubernatorial race and the race for attorney general. The debates will be broadcasted via the state’s four major news channels in additions to PBS. Here’s the schedule.

• Governor: Wednesday, Sept. 11, at Salt Lake Community College
• Attorney general : Tuesday, Oct. 1, at Southern Utah University
• 1st Congressional District : Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Utah State University
• U.S. Senate : Thursday, Oct. 10, at Weber State University
• 2nd Congressional District : Monday, Oct. 14, at Utah Tech University
• 3rd Congressional District : Thursday, Oct. 17, at Brigham Young University
• 4th Congressional District : Thursday, Oct. 24, University of Utah

Mail-in ballots will be sent to voters by county clerks between Oct. 15-29, according to the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which oversees elections in the state. Ballots must be placed in one of many dropboxes located throughout the state or delivered to county election offices by the time polls close on Election Day.

Ballots may also be returned via the U.S. Postal Service but voters must ensure their ballots are placed in the mail well before the Nov. 4 deadline (the day prior to Election Day) to ensure their ballot receives a timely postmark or else it will not be counted.

Ballot initiatives galore

In addition to federal, state and municipal candidates, Utahn’s ballots will feature four constitutional amendments approved by the Legislature. They include amendments that would:

• Empower the Legislature to freely change laws that originated as initiatives. Lawmakers have argued this amendment would return to representatives their proper authority over policymaking. Critics call it a “power grab” with misleading language on the ballot. The amendment would also ban foreign influence on state ballot initiatives.
• Enable the Legislature to use income tax revenue for state needs besides public education. The amendment would also eliminate the state sales tax on food.
• Require county sheriff to be an elected position with four-year terms.
• Increase the limit on annual distributions from the State School Fund for public education from 4% to 5%.

The Legislature requires a two-thirds vote from each chamber to place an initiative on the ballot. An initiative is required to receive a simple majority during the general election to pass.

A GOP primary to remember

Utah’s Republican primary elections will go down as some of the most expensive and unusual in recent history.

Sen. Lee broke with longtime personal precedent, and Utah political norms, when he endorsed Maloy’s primary challenger , Colby Jenkins, shortly before the state GOP convention, nearly costing Maloy her primary ballot qualification.

A week before the primary election, Maloy received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump , setting up an extremely close election that only reached a resolution after seven weeks , three lawsuits filed by Jenkins and a recount . Maloy ultimately won by just 176 votes.

Trump also weighed in on the Senate race in favor of Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs . The Senate race was noted for the personal wealth spent by former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson and Moxie Pest Control CEO Jason Walton for their campaigns — over $2.5 million each — and the large amount of outside money spent in favor of Curtis and in opposition to Staggs.

The gubernatorial race saw Cox, with his message of “Disagree Better,” win his party’s primary by nine percentage points , a smaller margin than his predecessors. Cox also became the first signature-gathering incumbent not to meet the party’s 40% threshold at convention since a signature route was established 10 years ago, after losing to Lyman by 35 percentage points among a few thousand state GOP delegates.

Arguing that party bylaws require the convention nominee to advance to the general election, Lyman refused to concede to Cox after the primary election, despite losing by more than 37,500 votes. Lyman proceeded to question the signature-gathering process that put Cox on the primary ballot and filed a lawsuit pro se with the Utah Supreme Court petitioning the justices to remove Cox and Henderson from office and make him the official GOP nominee on the November ballot.

Lyman launched a write-in campaign for governor shortly after the Utah Supreme Court denied his request. King’s campaign has cheered on Lyman’s decision and teamed up with him to film a King campaign ad mocking “Disagree Better.”