What’s at stake in the Utah Republican Party’s nominating convention this Saturday

Utah Republican state and congressional candidates will be put to the test in front of about 4,000 delegates this Saturday when the GOP holds its state nominating convention at Utah Valley University in Orem. 

Among the biggest questions facing delegates is whether they will throw their support behind all of the state’s three Republican congressional incumbents who are vying to stay in the U.S. House — or if they want change. 

Already the state’s dominant political party is facing a shakeup due to a court-ordered congressional map that’s governing the 2026 elections as part of a yearslong anti-gerrymandering lawsuit. 

To Republicans’ dismay, that court-ordered map created a new district concentrated around northern Salt Lake County that Democrats are expected to win — positioning Utah to potentially help Democrats as they seek to regain the majority of the U.S. House this year.

Aside from that blue district, the new map also created three sprawling, heavily Republican congressional districts that three of the state’s four current GOP congressional incumbents are competing to represent. Last month, Rep. Burgess Owens announced he wouldn’t be seeking reelection, leaving Reps. Celeste Maloy, Mike Kennedy and Blake Moore in the running. 

Each congressional incumbent is facing a crowded field of Republican challengers.

The stakes

Saturday’s convention will be revealing when it comes to how the party’s most loyal and involved delegates are leaning ahead of the June 23 primary. In some cases they’ll decide whether to shut the door on candidates and disqualify them from accessing the ballot. 

But delegates will only play a partial role in setting the stage for the upcoming primary. That’s because Utah law allows a dual path to the primary ballot: through signature gathering or through the party convention nomination process, or both. 

Several GOP candidates — including Maloy and Moore — have already qualified for the June primary by submitting more than the valid 7,000 signatures needed, according to tallies posted by the lieutenant governor’s office. But others — like Kennedy — opted not to gather signatures and are relying solely on capturing enough delegate support to qualify. 

Under party rules, a candidate who gets at least 60% of the delegate vote will nab the nomination. If no candidate gets at least 60%, the convention’s top two vote getters will qualify for the ballot. 

Due to the partisan makeup of the districts, the real winners of the congressional races will almost certainly be decided by the June 23 primary, well before the Nov. 3 general election. 

But under the new court-ordered map, Utah’s GOP incumbents must confront a new political reality — and not just because one of the districts now leans blue. 

Taylor Morgan, a political consultant with the Utah-based lobbying and public affairs firm Morgan & May, has said that the map’s new conservative districts are now so deeply red that incumbents — especially Maloy and Moore — could face a tough primary challenge against more “extreme” candidates, since he said the partisan makeup of the map’s new districts only encourages competitiveness in the primary and not the November general election. 

Utah Republican Party Chair Rob Axson — a critic of the court-ordered map — agrees that there’s “nothing competitive” about the new map’s congressional districts when it comes to the general election. 

“You have three Republican districts that no other party ever has a chance of winning, and you have a Democrat district that no other party really has a chance of winning,” he said.  

However, Axson doesn’t think the new congressional map could necessarily result in more “extreme” candidates, “but it definitely becomes a different conversation,” he said. Top of mind for delegates this year, he said, are issues including affordability, housing costs, immigration and border security, and international and national security questions like the war in Iran. 

Even though Utah has a dual path to the ballot and delegates only play a partial role in shaping the primary, Axson said Saturday’s convention is still important because of the boost it can give to Republican candidates. 

“There’s the importance of momentum,” he said. “If you go and earn the support of these delegates, it says something going into our primary season. It says something about your ability to resonate with Republicans and with voters and to earn their trust and support.” 

There is the potential for an upset. But regardless of Saturday’s outcome, it won’t be the end of the road for Maloy or Moore since they’ve already qualified for the June ballot. Still, the two could be facing a contentious primary if delegates back their GOP challengers.

It will be up to not just delegates, but also Utah’s primary voters to determine whether the state keeps its red congressional incumbents. Ahead of the primary, Axson said the Utah Republican Party is focused on facilitating “a fair process and one that elevates our platform and the issues that matter to the party, but does so fairly.” 

“My hope is that all of our candidates engage closely with our delegates and learn about the issues that matter most to them,” he said, “and then figure out how best to put those platform and principle type issues into policy should they be elected to represent us.” 

2nd Congressional District

Facing off with Moore (who has already qualified for the primary by gathering signatures), Utah state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, is relying on delegate support to qualify. So is Moore’s other GOP challenger, Colton Hatch, a former combat engineer for the Utah National Guard. Neither opted to gather signatures. 

Moore — who holds a position of U.S. House GOP leadership as the vice chair of the House Republican Conference — has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, of Ohio. 

But Moore could still be in for a tough race, with critics blaming him for his part in the events that led to Utah’s court-ordered congressional map. 

Lisonbee has attacked him for his role as a co-chair of the 2018 Better Boundaries initiative that sought Proposition 4, the voter-approved law that created an independent redistricting commission. Ensuing lawsuits over the Legislature’s maneuvers to dilute the governing power of Proposition 4 resulted in the court-ordered map that turned one of Utah’s four red congressional districts blue. 

Moore has said that while he supports states having redistricting standards, he opposes the judge’s selection of a map, and that the judge “should have continually returned the map-drawing responsibility back to the Legislature, to maintain constitutionality.”

Moore, however, has nearly $2.4 million in campaign cash on hand for this election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Lisonbee has raised just over $150,000, while Hatch hasn’t submitted any campaign finance filings with the FEC. 

3rd Congressional District

In challenging Maloy for the 3rd Congressional District, former state lawmaker and 2024 gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman is on track to rely entirely on delegate support to qualify for the ballot. 

Though Lyman has been a vocal signature gathering critic (a position of many party loyalists who opposed the 2014 law that opened up the dual path to Utah’s primary), he declared that he would gather signatures in his congressional bid. However, as of Wednesday, Lyman had only submitted 2,689 of the 7,000 valid signatures he’d need to qualify. 

Maloy isn’t just facing a challenge from Lyman, but also two other Republicans: Tyler Murset and David Harris. They both also declared that they would gather signatures, but neither have submitted enough to qualify. 

Maloy has an endorsement from Trump — and she’s raised more than $830,000 this election cycle, with more than $500,000 spent and $460,000 in cash on hand, according to FEC filings. 

Lyman — who has criticized Maloy for not being conservative enough, KSL reported — hasn’t filed any donations with the FEC, along with Murset. Harris has raised nearly $43,000. 

4th Congressional District

In his bid for the new 4th Congressional District, Kennedy appears confident he’ll clinch the nomination or at least qualify for the ballot through the convention since he opted against gathering signatures. 

Kennedy is facing the most GOP challengers: Seth Stewart, Pasitale Lupeamanu, Tyrone Jensen, Scott Hatfield and Isaiah Hardman. None have gathered signatures, so they’ll be relying on delegate support to access the primary ballot. 

Kennedy has an endorsement from Trump. He’s also raised more than $800,000 in campaign funds this election cycle — while none of his five Republican challengers have reported any donations in the race, according to FEC filings. 

1st Congressional District

As for Utah’s new 1st Congressional District — which is expected to be won by the Democratic primary winner — Utah Republicans are still going to put forth a GOP competitor. 

Dave Robinson, a former Salt Lake County mayoral candidate and ousted Salt Lake County Republican Party communications director, is vying for the GOP’s nomination in that race, along with Stone Fonua, Riley Owen, and Jonathan Lopez. 

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Riley Owen is the only candidate in that race that has already qualified for the primary by submitting enough signatures. He’s also raised more than $98,000, according to FEC filings. 

The other Republican candidates don’t appear to have filed any donations with the FEC. 

State legislative races to watch

Aside from the congressional competition, several multi-county state legislative races will be worth watching. 

This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the GOP races taking place during Saturday’s convention, but some of the most interesting could include: 

Senate District 7: One of the state’s most powerful Republicans, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, is facing three Republican challengers: Jennifer Garner, Braden Hess and Stephanie Hollist. Adams and Hollist have already both qualified for the primary by gathering signatures, while Garner and Hess are relying on delegate support. 

Senate District 11: To challenge Utah’s only third-party lawmaker, Sen. Emily Buss with the Forward Party of Utah, former state lawmaker John Knotwell has filed as a Republican, along with Chris Sloan and Brooks Benson. Sloan, as of Wednesday, had only filed 1,394 of 2,000 signatures needed, while Knotwell and Benson didn’t gather signatures, so they may rely on delegate support to qualify for the primary. 

Senate District 18: Incumbent Sen. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, will be relying on delegates to qualify for the June primary since he didn’t gather signatures. He has two Republican challengers: state House Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, and Tracie Halvorsen. They, too, didn’t gather signatures and are banking on delegate support to qualify. 

House District 12: Another top Republican, House Speaker Mike Schultz, is also facing a GOP challenger, Dava Ann Neal. Schultz, however, has already qualified for the primary through signature gathering. 

House District 6: Current Rep. Matthew Gwynn isn’t running for re-election, and two Republicans are vying to replace him: Brad Barrowes, and former Utah congressman Rob Bishop. Neither gathered signatures. 

House District 4: Incumbent Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, didn’t gather signatures and is relying on delegates to get her to the primary ballot. Kris Cambell is competing with her for the Republican nomination, and she hasn’t submitted any signatures. 

House District 29: Three Republican candidates have lined up to fill a seat being vacated by Rep. Bridger Bolinder, R-Grantsville: Sheldon Birch, Alexis Wheeler and Justin Nielson. Birch has already qualified for the primary ballot by submitting signatures. 

House District 59: To fill an open seat being vacated by Rep. Mike Kohler, R-Midway, three Republicans are competing for the nomination: Luke Searle, Jeffrey Pierce and Mark Allen. All three haven’t submitted signatures and are relying on delegate support. 

House District 66: Incumbent Rep. Troy Shelley, R-Ephraim, didn’t gather signatures and is relying on delegates to qualify for the primary. He’s being challenged by Justin Zohner. 

House District 67: To fill an open seat left by Rep. Christine Watkins, R-Price, three Republicans have lined up: Gina Gagon, JR Bird, and Yvonne Jensen. Gagon on Wednesday had almost collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot (935 out of 1,000 needed), while Jensen qualified by submitting 1,018 signatures. Bird didn’t gather signatures and is relying on delegate support. 

House District 69: Incumbent Rep. Logan Monson, R-Blanding, is facing a Republican challenger, Daniel Gardner. Neither gathered signatures, so they’re both relying on delegate support.

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