On Jan. 5, Mike Kennedy (R) was sworn in as a member of the Utah State Senate. Kennedy won a special election on Dec. 29, 2020, to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Daniel Hemmert (R). Hemmert resigned to take a job as the executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development under newly elected Gov. Spencer Cox (R).
Delegates from the Utah County Republican Party chose Kennedy to replace Hemmert in an online special election. He prevailed over Jeanette Bennett, David Shallenberger, Staci Valentine Carroll, Jon Anderson, and John St. Clair.
Kennedy previously served in the Utah House of Representatives, representing District 27 from 2013 to 2018. He left the legislature to mount an unsuccessful campaign against Sen. Mitt Romney (R) in the 2018 Republican U.S. Senate primary.
The Utah Senate is the upper chamber of the Utah Legislature. With Kennedy filling Hemmert’s seat, the current partisan breakdown of the senate is 23 Republicans and six Democrats.
Burgess Owens (R) defeated incumbent Rep. Ben McAdams (D) and John Molnar (L) in Utah’s 4th Congressional District.
McAdams was first elected in 2018, defeating incumbent Mia Love (R) 50.1% to 49.9%—a margin of 694 votes. His 2018 election made the 4th District one of 30 House Districts that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 and that a Democrat represented in 2020.
Owens played professional football with the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, including as part of the Raiders’ 1981 Super Bowl Championship team. Owens later founded Second Chance 4 Youth, a nonprofit supporting incarcerated juveniles.
Heading into the election, Democrats had a 232-197 majority in the House. Democrats were projected to maintain their majority after the 2020 elections. We’ve called 421 races so far. Democrats have won 213 seats and Republicans have won 203. So far, 13 seats have changed party hands. Republicans won nine seats currently held by Democrats and one held by a Libertarian. Democrats won three seats held by Republicans.
Utah Supreme Court Justice John A. Pearce is standing for retention election on November 3, 2020. Pearce was appointed by former Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R).
Herbert appointed four of the five justices currently sitting on the court. Gov. Michael Leavitt (R) appointed the other.
The governor of Utah appoints the five justices of the supreme court with the assistance of the Utah Judicial Nominating Commission. The governor has majority control over membership on the seven-member judicial nominating commission. The governor appoints six of these members, no less than two and no more than four of whom may be lawyers. Two of the lawyer members must be appointed from a list of nominees submitted by the Utah State Bar. The Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice appoints the final member of the commission, who does not vote.
New justices must face a retention election during the next general election after they serve at least three years on the bench. Justices then stand for retention every ten years. Since 2008, justices facing retention elections have won 98% of the time. In Utah, there has not been a single justice that lost retention during this same time frame.
Incumbent Sean Reyes won the Republican primary for attorney general of Utah on June 30. As of Tuesday afternoon, he had received 54.2% of the vote to David Leavitt’s 45.8%.
Reyes became attorney general in 2013. He ran on his record, saying he protected children, teens, people’s online data, and family finances. Leavitt was elected as Utah County attorney in 2018. He said criminal justice reform should be the focus of the attorney general’s office and that he would work to reduce the number of plea bargains and increase the number of jury trials.
The Associated Press called the race July 3 as absentee ballots continued to be counted.
Spencer Cox, Utah’s lieutenant governor, won the gubernatorial primary on June 30. As of Tuesday, he had received 36.4% of the vote to Jon Huntsman’s 34.6%. Gregory Hughes received 21.1%, and Thomas Wright, 7.9%.
The race was called Monday as absentee ballots continued to be counted. Cox advances to the general election with his running mate, Deidre Henderson.
Huntsman served as Utah’s governor from 2005 to 2009. Incumbent Gov. Gary Herbert (R) did not seek re-election and endorsed Cox in the primary.
Nonprofit owner and former professional football player Burgess Owens (R) defeated three other candidates in the Republican primary for Utah’s 4th Congressional District on June 30, 2020. As of 10:15 a.m. Mountain Time on July 1, Owens had received 44 percent of the vote followed by state Rep. Kim Coleman (R-42) and radio personality Jay McFarland (R) with 24 and 22 percent of the vote, respectively. A fourth candidate, Trent Christensen (R), received 11 percent.
Owens will face incumbent Rep. Ben McAdams (D), one of 30 Democrats who represents a district won by President Donald Trump (R) in 2016. McAdams was first elected in 2018 after challenging and defeating incumbent Rep. Mia Love (R), receiving 50.1 percent of the vote to Love’s 49.9 percent, a margin of 694 votes. During the presidential election, Trump received 39 percent of the vote to Hillary Clinton’s (D) 32 percent in the 4th District.
The statewide primaries for Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah are on June 30, 2020. The filing deadline to run passed in March for Colorado and Utah and in April for Oklahoma.
One U.S. Senate seat and seven U.S. House seats are up for election in Colorado. A Democratic and Republican primary is being held for each seat. All eight incumbents are running for re-election, leaving no open seats. Seven incumbents are unopposed in their primaries; Rep. Scott Tipton (R-3) faces one challenger, Lauren Boebert. Entering the 2020 election, Colorado has one Democratic U.S. senator, one Republican U.S. senator, and four Democratic and three Republican U.S. representatives.
One U.S. Senate and five U.S. House seats are up for election in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, unopposed candidates automatically advance to the general election. The 3rd Congressional District has no primaries on the ballot, the 2nd Congressional District does not have a Democratic primary on the ballot, and the 1st Congressional District does not have a Republican primary on the ballot. All six incumbents are running for re-election, leaving no open seats. U.S. Representatives Kevin Hern (R-1) and Frank Lucas (R-3) faced no primary opposition and advanced automatically to the general election. Entering the 2020 election, Oklahoma has two Republican U.S. senators and one Democratic and four Republican U.S. representatives.
Four U.S. House seats are up for election in Utah. In Utah, the Democratic and Republican parties hold conventions to choose their Congressional candidates. If no convention candidates receive 60% of the vote or if additional candidates petition to get on the ballot, a primary is held. The 1st Congressional district is holding both Democratic and Republican primaries, and the 4th Congressional district is holding a Republican primary. The remaining districts’ major party candidates were decided at the convention. Three of the four incumbents are running for re-election. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-1) did not file for re-election as he is running for Lieutenant Governor of Utah. Entering the 2020 election, Utah has two Republican U.S. senators and one Democratic and three Republican U.S. representatives.
Candidates are competing to advance to the general election scheduled for November 3, 2020. If no candidates receive a majority of the vote in the Oklahoma primary, the two highest vote-getters will advance to a primary runoff on August 25, 2020. Colorado and Utah do not hold primary runoffs.
These states’ primaries are the 27th, 28th, and 29th to take place in the 2020 election cycle. The next primary is on July 7 in New Jersey.
Entering the 2020 election, the U.S. Senate has 45 Democrats, 53 Republicans, and two independents who caucus with the Democratic Party. Thirty-three of the 100 U.S. Senate seats are up for regular election, and two seats are up for special election. A majority in the chamber requires 51 seats. The U.S. House of Representatives has 233 Democrats, 197 Republicans, one Libertarian, and four vacancies. All 435 U.S. House seats are up for election. A majority in the chamber requires 218 seats.
Three states—Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah—are holding statewide primaries on June 30.
In Colorado, primaries are being held for three state board of education seats, three seats on the University of Colorado Board of Regents, 18 state Senate seats, and 65 state House seats.
In Oklahoma, primaries are being held for corporation commissioner, 11 state Senate seats, and 38 state House seats. Additionally, a special primary election is being held in District 28 of the Oklahoma State Senate. In May, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R) signed legislation reinstating the absentee ballot notarization requirement struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court on May 4, 2020. The legislation permits voters to submit copies of their identification in lieu of fulfilling the notarization requirement in the event of a state of emergency occurring within 45 days of an election. The legislation also specified that individuals experiencing symptoms indicative of COVID-19, and individuals classified as vulnerable to infection, could cast an absentee ballot under the ‘physical incapacitation’ eligibility category.
In Utah, primaries are being held for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, four state board of education seats, five state Senate seats, and 13 state House seats. In April 2020, Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed legislation canceling in-person election day voting, in-person early voting, and in-person voter registration for the June 30 primary election.
On June 10, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman (R) announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Huntsman, who served as governor of the Beehive State between 2005 and 2009, is once again making a bid for the governor’s seat in Utah’s 2020 gubernatorial election.
Huntsman wrote in a tweet that he had experienced “classic symptoms.” He said he was initially given incorrect test results by the Salt Lake County Health Department before receiving the correct results.
Huntsman served as Ambassador to China under President Barack Obama (D) from 2009 to 2011, and as Ambassador to Russia under President Donald Trump (R) from 2017 to 2019.
He will face off against Spencer Cox, Gregory Hughes, and Thomas Wright in the Republican primary on June 30, 2020.
Ballotpedia tracks politicians and government officials who have been diagnosed or tested for coronavirus, or become quarantined.
On April 29, 2020, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (D) issued an executive order that formally placed Utah under “moderate risk” protocols, effective May 1 at 12:01 a.m., according to a press release from the governor’s office. Under these protocols, residents are encouraged to stay home as much as possible but are allowed to see small groups of family and friends who have been adhering to social distancing and hygiene guidelines. The order also allows some businesses that were closed by public health orders, such as gyms, salons and in-restaurant dining, to resume operation under strict guidelines.
