One Utah U.S. House district is open this year—tying with 2014 and 2020 for the most this decade

By

Briana Ryan

This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Utah was January 8, 2024.

Thirteen candidates are running for Utah’s four U.S. House districts, including three Democrats and 10 Republicans. That’s 3.25 candidates per district. There were 3.25 candidates per district in 2022, 3.75 candidates per district in 2020, and 2.5 in 2018.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • Incumbent John Curtis (R-03) is not running for re-election to run for the U.S. Senate.
  • Six candidates—one Democrat and five Republicans—are running for the open 3rd Congressional District, the most candidates running for a seat in Utah this year.
  • Three primaries—all Republican—are contested this year. Four primaries were contested in 2022, three primaries were contested in 2020, and two were contested in 2018.
  • Two incumbents—Blake Moore (R-01) and Celeste Maloy (R-02)—are in contested primaries in Utah this year. That’s less than the four incumbents in contested primaries in 2022 but more than the zero incumbents in contested primaries in 2020.
  • The 2nd Congressional District is guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats will appear on the ballot. Republicans filed to run in every congressional district, meaning none are guaranteed to Democrats.

Utah and two other states—Colorado and New York—are holding primary elections on June 25.

In Utah, the winner of the primary election is the candidate who receives the highest number of votes, even if they do not win an outright majority of votes cast.