Get to know Utah’s Republican, Democratic candidates before state primary

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Citizens of Utah will select their party’s political candidates during the state primary election on Tuesday, June 28. Primary winners will then compete against the opposing party in November’s Lieutenant Governor Election.

In order to participate in the Republican primary, voters must be registered to vote and be officially affiliated with the Republican political party. Voters need to be registered, but do not need to be affiliated with a political party to vote in the Democratic primary. Information on primary candidates running for governor, state senator and congress are found below.

Governor

Seven-year incumbent Gov. Gary Herbert, R-Utah, will go up against Republican candidate Jonathan Johnson in this primary election. Johnson is an attorney and former CEO of Overstock.com.

The Democratic candidate for governor in this election is Mike Weinholtz, co-founder of CHG Healthcare Services. The Republican party has held the governor’s seat in Utah since 1985.

Rick Bowmer
Utah’s primary election will take place on Tuesday, June 28. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Senator

Six-year incumbent Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is running unopposed on the Republican ticket for senator in this primary election. Republicans have held this seat in the Senate since 1951.

On the Democratic ballot, Misty Snow and Jonathan Swinton are competing for a chance to challenge Lee in November’s general election. Snow is a grocery store cashier and LGBT rights activist from Salt Lake County. Swinton is a marriage counselor and holds a doctorate in marriage and family therapy.

House of Representatives

District 1

Fourteen-year incumbent Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Brigham City, currently holds the House of Representatives seat in District 1, which consists of northern Utah cities Logan and Ogden. He is running unopposed by Republican nominees in this election. Republican congressmen have held the District 1 seat since 1981.

The Democratic nominee for District 1, Peter Clemens, will also be running unopposed. Clemens is a physician in Ogden and retired Captain of the United States Army Reserve.

District 2

Chris Stewart, R-Farmington, has held the District 2 seat since 2013 and is running unopposed by Republicans. This district consists of Salt Lake City and extends southwest to Tooele and Cedar City. At the time of his election, he was the first Republican to hold the District 2 seat since 2001.

Charlene Albarran is running unopposed on the Democrat ticket. Albarran studied math and statistics at Boise State University and has started multiple philanthropic organizations.

District 3

District 3 includes parts of central and southeastern Utah, including Provo, Heber City and Moab. Seven-year incumbent Jason Chaffetz, R-Provo, currently occupies this seat. He is opposed in this election by Republican Chia-Chi Teng, an information technology professor at BYU. Republicans have held this seat in Congress since 1997.

The Democratic candidate for District 3 is Stephen Tryon. Tyron is a retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army and was the senior vice president of Overstock.com. He is running unopposed.

District 4

District 4 is in central Utah and includes several cities along the west side of I-15 including West Jordan, Lehi, Payson and Nephi. Mia Love, R-Saratoga Springs, currently holds this seat and is unopposed on the Republican ticket. Love is the second to hold this seat in Congress, preceded by Jim Matheson, D-Salt Lake City, who was the first congressman for District 4 after its creation in 2013.

Doug Owens is unopposed on the Democratic ticket. He is a business defense attorney who grew up in Salt Lake City.

For more information regarding the platforms of these candidates, as well as the candidates running from other parties, visit www.uselections.com/ut.

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