Gov. Spencer Cox stands before legislators in the House Chamber at the Capitol in Salt Lake City as the legislative session concludes shortly after midnight, Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
All 75 seats in the Utah House are up for election this year – and yet about 1 in 4 have already been decided before a single vote will be cast on Nov. 5.
In the Utah Legislature — which has long been under control of a Republican supermajority — 20 House seats and two out of 15 Senate seats up for election this year are uncontested or were already won after the June primary.
Most of these seats are held by an incumbent or will be held by a newcomer Republican. But one Democrat who will be a new face on Capitol Hill is uncontested during the general election.
Here’s a breakdown of the races that have already been won:
Uncontested general election races in the House
House Majority Assistant Whip Casey Snider, R-Paradise, is running unopposed to keep his seat representing District 5, which includes Cache County. Snider has worked as a firefighter and owns and operates a 300-acre farm in the Cache Valley. He’s also a self-described avid waterfowl and big-game hunter, and works as a water policy specialist for Ducks Unlimited.
Third-party candidate Cary Youmans had filed to challenge Snider as a Utah Forward Party candidate but withdrew in April.
Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, faced no challengers in his bid to keep his District 7 seat representing parts of Weber County. He first took office in January 2021. One of the most high-profile bills Wilcox has sponsored includes HB562, a bill to use up to $900 million to help build a Major League Baseball stadium and facilitate an entertainment district on the west side of Salt Lake City.
Rep. Jason Kyle, R-Huntsville, faces no challengers and is set to keep his District 8 seat representing Morgan and Weber counties. Kyle is a chemical engineer and business manager who first took office in January 2023.
Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, a registered nurse, is running uncontested for District 11, which is a multi-county district that spans areas in Weber and Davis counties and includes Hill Air Force Base. Hall did not have a challenger in either the primary or the general election. She first took office in January 2023 after she successfully challenged her Republican predecessor Rep. Kelly Miles in the 2022 primary.
Hall made headlines this year for co-sponsoring HB261, a controversial bill that restricted diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education and other public entities.
House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, a self-described “homemaker,” had no primary or general election challengers for her seat representing District 14, which includes parts of Clearfield and Syracuse in Davis County.
Lisonbee first took office in January 2017 when she succeeded Rep. Curtis Oda who did not seek re-election. That year, Lisonbee also ran unopposed. This year, House Republicans elected Lisonbee to her first leadership role as majority whip.
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Some of Lisonbee’s most noteworthy legislation include anti-abortion bills, including HB467 last year, which sought to end licensing and operation of abortion clinics and require that abortions be performed in hospitals with limited exceptions. However, this year Lisonbee also sponsored HB560, a bill to repeal portions of HB467 in hopes it would streamline the implementation of Utah’s 2020 near-total trigger abortion ban if the courts uphold it as constitutional. That case is still being litigated.
Grant Amjad Miller, a public defender, is the lone Democrat running unopposed in the general election, having already secured his District 24 seat representing parts of Salt Lake City after he defeated his Democratic opponents Ramón Barthelemy and incumbent Rep. Joel Briscoe in the primary. Miller’s Republican challenger David Spjut withdrew from the race in April.
Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, is running an uncontested bid to keep his seat representing District 36, which includes parts of west-side Salt Lake County. First elected in 2003, he’s a longtime lawmaker who has held past leadership roles. He’s perhaps most well known for legislation in 2019 that enacted Utah’s more limited plan to expand Medicaid.
Cal Roberts, a Republican Draper City Council member and small business owner, secured the House District 46 seat after he defeated incumbent Rep. Jeff Stenquist, R-Draper, in the June primary. District 46 spans across Draper and into parts of Bluffdale.
Rep. Stephanie Gricius, R-Eagle Mountain, is running unopposed to keep her seat representing District 50, which includes parts of Utah County on the west side of Utah Lake. Gricius first took office in January 2023.
House Majority Leader Jefferson Moss, R-Saratoga Springs, was uncontested in both the primary and general elections to retain his seat representing District 51, which includes parts of Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs. He was first elected to the House in 2017.
Moss has a background in finance and has committee assignments dealing with the state budget, legislative expense oversight and economic development.
Brady Brammer, a Republican from Highland and an attorney, is running unopposed to keep his seat representing District 54, which includes parts of Highland, Cedar Hills and Alpine in Utah County. Brammer first took office in 2019. This year he took a powerful leadership role as House Rules Chair, a position that can prioritize which bills get heard in committees.
Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove, is unopposed in his bid to maintain his seat representing District 55, which spans parts of Cedar Hills, American Fork and Pleasant Grove. Hawkins first took office in January 2019. In 2021, when he was hospitalized with a severe case of COVID-19 and almost died.
Rep. Val Peterson, R-Orem, has no challengers in his bid to keep his District 56 seat, representing the Utah County area across Lindon, Orem and parts of Vineyard. Peterson is most well known for his work as a budget leader, serving in the powerful role as the House chair of the Executive Appropriations Committee, which sets the state budget.
Rep. Tyler Clancy, R-Provo, is also uncontested and is set to continue representing District 60 in Utah County. A police officer and currently the youngest serving member of the Utah Legislature, 27-year-old Clancy is perhaps most well known for legislation dealing with homelessness.
Lisa Shepherd is a Republican seeking to fill a vacancy left by Rep. Marsha Judkins, who did not seek re-election for District 61 representing Provo and parts of Utah Lake. Shepherd is running unopposed in the general election after she defeated her Republican opponent Travis Hoban in the primary.
Troy Shelley, a Republican from Ephraim, has already won what had been a crowded race to represent the rural area of District 66, which includes Sanpete, Juab and Utah counties. Shelley, a former Sanpete County Republican Party chairman, is now the last candidate standing after he defeated Republican opponents Linda Hanks at convention and Brian Nielson in the primary.
Another Republican, Leon Day, withdrew, and Constitution Party candidate Joseph Fuchsel died, according to the state’s election website, which lists him as “deceased.”
Rep. Scott Chew, R-Jensen, has already won his race to keep his rural District 68 seat representing Duchesne and Uintah counties. Chew, a cattle rancher who first took office in 2015, defeated his Republican challenger Kenyen Wilkins at the Utah Republican Party’s nominating convention.
Rep. Joseph Elison, R-Toquerville, is unopposed and set to keep his District 72 seat representing parts of Washington County. He has a background in finance as an investment adviser and first took office in January 2023.
Rep. Colin Jack, R-St. George, is also uncontested in the race for District 73, representing parts of Washington County. Jack, an electrical engineer and chief operating officer for Dixie Power, has been serving in the House since July 2022. He’s perhaps best known for running energy-related legislation, as the lawmaker who sponsored three of the most prominent energy bills in the 2024 legislative session.
Rep. Neil Walter, R-St. George, is also unopposed. He’s set to continue representing District 74, which includes parts of Washington County. Walter works in real estate and has been serving in the House since January 2023.
Unopposed races in the Senate
Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, faces no challengers and has already won another term representing Senate District 27, which includes parts of Beaver, Garfield, Juab, Kane, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, Utah and Wayne counties. Owens sponsored SB161, which was designed to extend the life of the coal-fueled generators at the Intermountain Power Plant past their 2025 retirement date. In a June special session, the Utah Legislature made changes to that plan in the face of looming EPA intervention and possible litigation.
Sen. Calvin Musselman, R-West Haven, is unopposed and is set to win the Senate District 4 seat representing Davis and Weber Counties, which is currently held by outgoing Sen. David Buxton. Mussleman works in real estate, and he comes to the Senate after he began his legislative career in the House in January 2019.
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