Curtis, Kennedy win U.S. Senate and House seats as Republicans lead Utah congressional race • Utah News Dispatch

This ongoing report on Utah election results was updated at 11:58 p.m

The Republican Party is on track to reaffirm its control of three of Utah’s four congressional districts and an open Senate seat on Tuesday, with four candidates holding at least 59% of the vote.

Incumbent Reps. Blake Moore and Burgess Owens are returning to Congress for their next two-year terms, while Rep. Celeste Maloy will serve her first full term since the special election victory that propelled her to Congress.

They will be joined by State Senator Mike Kennedy, who has already announced his retirement from the Utah Legislature and is poised to become the next representative of the 3rd Congressional District.

And Rep. John Curtis will be Utah’s next U.S. senator, replacing the retiring Mitt Romney after his Democratic challenger Caroline Gleich conceded Tuesday night.

As of 11:24 p.m., Curtis, who was already declared the winner on election night, holds 62.21%. of votes over Gleichs 32.8%. Third-party candidate Carlton Bowen of the Independent American Party had about 5%, while candidate Laird Hamblin had 0.01%..

Curtis’ victory marks the end of his seven years in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he established himself as one of the Republican Party’s leading climate policy advocates and helped found the Conservative Climate Caucus. He will join Sen. Mike Lee in the Senate, whose term ends in 2029.

Speaking via Zoom to a packed room of Republican supporters at the GOP election party in Draper, Curtis said he was “so grateful.”

“I want to make your agenda my agenda. I want to make sure my voice represents you. I look forward to hearing from you all. “Hopefully a great, great night for Republicans, certainly here in the state, but hopefully across the country,” Curtis said.

Gleich conceded early Tuesday evening after the Associated Press called the race for Curtis even though no Utah results were publicly available.

In a statement, Gleich congratulated Curtis and expressed hope that she could work with him on climate and environmental legislation in the future.

“I am incredibly proud of the campaign we ran. Although the outcome was not what we expected, we remained focused on critical issues: climate action, public lands, and reproductive freedom. We have engaged young people who have the greatest interest in the future of this country,” she said.

Before the results were released, Gleich said that regardless of the outcome of her race, she believes there has been progress in the Democratic Party in Utah this election cycle.

“I think calling us a red state is a disservice to Utah because we’re already a lot more purple and people vote on issues,” she said on election night. “And I’m very happy about the young people, especially those we reached with our campaign.”

The country should also look at reforming campaign finance, Gleich criticized $5.5 million that Curtis brought up in his campaign, arguing that the money could have been used to house or feed thousands of children instead.

“I just think our system is in dire need of reform,” she said.

Mike Kennedy, an aspiring former state senator who has represented Alpine since 2012, is Curtis’ likely successor for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, receiving about 65% of the vote Tuesday, compared to Democrat Glenn Wright, who received about 35%.

Kennedy – ​​​​a family doctor and lawyer – had already challenged Romney for his Senate seat in 2018. After Curtis announced his candidacy for Senate, Kennedy entered the 3rd Congressional District race, where he won with about 39% of the vote in the GOP primary.

According to initial unofficial results, Maloy is on the right track is serving her first full term in the 2nd Congressional District since winning a special election in 2023 to replace Rep. Chris Stewart, who resigned from his House seat. Maloy received 58.85% the vote on Tuesday, leading Democrat Nathaniel Woodward received about 34% of the vote. Constitution Party candidate Cassie Easely received about 5% and independent candidate Tyler Murset received about 2%..

Tuesday’s victory marks the end of a turbulent election cycle for Maloy. who won her GOP primary by just 214 votesor 0.2% over Colby Jenkins. Jenkins, supported by Mike Lee, unsuccessfully challenged the initial results.

Rep. Blake Moore is slated to run for a third term representing Utah’s 1st Congressional District by about 63%. Tuesday night’s vote – his Democratic opponent, Bill Campbell, had about 32%, while libertarian Daniel Cottam had about 4%.

Moore, who first won the seat in 2020, won this year’s GOP primary comfortably with 71% of the vote.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday evening, Moore said the early results showed a general mood across the country that voters are not happy with the Biden administration.

“In his first two years, (Biden) spent almost 5 trillion net new dollars, creating the worst inflation we’ve ever seen, at least in my lifetime.” And I think that the American people are expressing tonight, that it doesn’t want to continue going in that direction,” Moore said. “Hopefully we’ll keep the house. And there are a lot of good races that look like they will go Republicans’ way.”

And in the 4th Congressional District, Burgess Owens holds about 62% of the vote, while Democrat Katrina Fallick-Wang has about 33%. United Utah candidate Vaughn Cook received about 4%, while independent Evan Bullard was at 1.39%.

Owens, a former NFL athlete and Fox News contributor, completed his first term in 2020 after defeating Ben McAdams, Utah’s last Democrat in Congress, in a close race. After the Utah legislature drew new congressional district maps, making the district significantly less competitive, Owens easily retained his House seat.

In a statement after the polls closed Tuesday, Owens said he was “honored” to have the trust of Utah’s 4th District.

“We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but I am fully committed to securing a future Utahns can count on and be proud of.” That means fighting for a strong economy, the safety of our communities to ensure and build an education system that puts our children first. Thank you for your trust in me,” Owens said.

Utah election results will be final after the statewide vote on November 25th.