On Tuesday, June 26, the state of Utah had its primary elections for community, state and federal positions. Utah allows for vote-by-mail elections depending on the county. According to the office of the Salt Lake County Clerk’s website, the 2018 primary elections in Utah was “conducted mainly by mail.” Ballots were mailed to eligible voters three weeks before Election Day along with postage-paid return envelopes. Eligible voters included registered voters with primaries in their districts or within their political party. Envelopes had to have been returned or postmarked by June 25. Voters could also cast their ballots in person on Election Day or drop off their signed vote-by-mail envelopes across the state, there were over ten polling locations in the Salt Lake Valley alone.
“I voted in this election because I care far too much about the future of this country to let any election pass without voting,” said Gabi Finlayson, a political science student at the U. “Voting in primaries is one of the best ways we can get more moderate and realistic candidates with mass appeal which is so crucial in the current political climate of our country and state.”
This cycle, Utah State Senate and House positions were up for election, as well as United States Senate and House. Many candidates did not have primaries, including Jenny Wilson (D) running for U.S. Senate. Other candiates, such Rob Bishop (R) running for U.S. House District 1, Shireen Ghorbani (D), Chris Stewart (R) running for U.S. House District 2 and other state senate and house candidates ran uncontested. In order to participate in the Utah Democratic Party primary elections, the voter may be affiliated or unaffiliated with any party. Participating in the Utah Republican Party primaries requires the voter be a registered Republican.
Results from Tuesday’s election have been reported and confirmed by multiple sources, including the New York Times and Politico.
Federal Primary Candidates
U.S. Senate
Mitt Romney defeated Mike Kennedy with, according to Politico, over 71 percent of nearly 303,000 votes cast in the Republican primary. Romney will run against Jenny Wilson (D) in the general election.
U.S. House District 1 (Box Elder, Cache, Daggett, Davis, Duchesne, Morgan, Rich, Summit, Uintah and Weber Counties)
Lee Castillo defeated Kurt Weiland in the Democratic primary. Castillo will run against incumbent Rob Bishop (R) in the general election.
U.S. House District 3 (Carbon, Emery, Grand, Salt Lake, San Juan and Wasatch Counties)
John Curtis, the incumbent elected in the 2017 special election, defeated Christopher Herrod in the Republican primary. Curtis will face James Singer (D) in the general election.
Utah Senate Primary Candidates
Utah Senate District 17 (Box Elder, Cache and Tooele Counties)
Scott Sandall defeated Clark Davis in the Republican primary. Davis will face Michael Keil (D) in the general election.
Utah Senate District 26 (Daggett, Duchesne, Summit, Uintah and Wasatch Counties)
Ronald Winterton defeated Jack Rubin and Brian Gorum in the Republican primary while Eileen Gallagher defeated Pat Vaughn in the Democratic primary. Winterton (R) and Gallagher will face each other in the general.
Utah Senate District 2 (Salt Lake County)
Derek Kitchen defeated Jennifer Plumb in the Democratic primary. Kitchen will face Chase Winder (R) in the general.
Utah Senate District 3 (Salt Lake County)
Jeremy Egan defeated Marlin Baer in the Republican primary. Egan will face incumbent Gene Davis (D) in the general election.
Utah Senate District 8 (Salt Lake County)
Brian Zehnder defeated Jaren Davis in the Republican primary. Zehnder will face Kathleen Riebe (D) for the two-year-term seat in the general election.
Utah House Primary Candidates
Utah House District 69 (Carbon, Duchesne, Emery and Grand Counties)
Christine Watkins, incumbent, defeated Jae Potter in the Republican primary. Watkins will face Tim Glenn (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 71 (Iron and Washington Counties)
Brad Last defeated Mark Borowiak in the Republican primary. Last will face Chuck Good (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 4 (Cache County)
Dan Johnson defeated Greg Merrill in the Republican primary. Johnson will face Josh Brundage (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 7 (Weber County)
Kyle Andersen defeated Lisa Roskelley in the Republican primary. Andersen will face David Owen (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 8 (Weber County)
Steve Waldrip defeated Jason Kyle in the Republican primary. Waldrip will face Deana Froerer (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 10 (Weber County)
Lorraine Brown defeated Terry Schow in the Republican primary. Brown will face LaWanna Shurtliff (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 19 (Davis County)
Raymond Ward defeated Phill Wright in the Republican primary. Ward will face Courtney Jones (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 20 (Davis County)
Melissa Ballard defeated Matt Jensen in the Republican primary. Ballard will face Ryan Jones (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 24 (Salt Lake County)
Jenn Dailey-Provost defeated Jacquelyn Orton, Igor Limansky and Darin Mann in the Democratic primary. Dailey-Provost will face Scott Rosenbush (R) in the general election.
Utah House District 27 (Utah County)
Brady Brammer defeated Jared Carman in the Republican primary. Brammer will face Elisabeth Luntz (D) in the general election.
Utah House District 57 (Utah County)
Jon Hawkins defeated Alexander Carter in the Republican primary. There are no Democratic challengers, but Hawkins will face Hillary Stirling of the United Utah Party in the general.
Utah House District 61 (Utah County)
Marsha Judkins defeated Parl Johnson in the Republican primary. There are no Democratic challengers, but Judkins will face Matt Styles of the Green Party and Eric Chase of the United Utah Party in the general.
For more information on the winners of these elections and other candidates, including third party candidates, visit Politico’s or The New York Times coverage of the elections.
