In another primary election that took a week to decide, former US Foreign Service officer Blake Moore has won the Republican primary to succeed the retiring Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Brigham City) in the state’s northernmost congressional district. Mr. Moore looks to have scored an unofficial 31-29% win over Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson, a vote spread of 2,872 votes of approximately 126,000 votes cast.
The Democrats may have a nominee as Shoshone Tribe chairman Darren Parry appears to have logged a 454 vote win against party activist Jamie Cheek. The Democratic turnout was under 23,000 voters. Mr. Moore now becomes a virtual sure winner in November. The close Republican nomination contest between Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox and former Governor and ex-US Ambassador Jon Huntsman has ended with the former man scoring a close 7,330 vote victory, a 36.4 – 34.9 percentage margin of well over 520,000 votes cast.
Mr. Cox carried several key endorsements, including that of retiring three-term Gov. Gary Herbert (R). He now faces Democratic nominee Chris Peterson in the general election, with the Lt. Governor being an overwhelming favorite to win the November vote. The 520,000+ votes is a turnout increase of 127% over the 2016 Republican primary voter participation figure. The June 30th Utah primary elections are not quite complete either, but it appears two Republicans are headed for close wins.
In the open Governor’s race with 480,869 votes counted, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox looks to have enough of a margin to defeat former Governor and US Ambassador Jon Huntsman, marring his political comeback attempt. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Mr. Cox’s victory margin fall below 10,000 votes, however, which is a testament to Mr. Huntsman’s strength in Salt Lake County. In the open 1st Congressional District, former US Foreign Service officer Blake Moore looks to be closing in on the Republican nomination. With 123,395 votes now counted and reported, Mr. Moore has expanded his lead to 2,669 votes (30.9 – 28.8%) over Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson. The Republican nominee is a cinch to win the general election. The Democratic side of this race is also still uncalled. Shoshone Indian Tribe chairman Darren Perry has a 466 vote lead over Utah state employee Jamie Cheek. By contrast, only 22,192 votes are recorded in the Democratic primary. The open Republican primary, which will decide who replaces retiring Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Brigham City) will take several days to determine. With just over two-thirds of the precincts reporting, businessman Blake Moore maintains a tight 576 vote margin over Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson. Former Agriculture Commissioner Kerry Gibson and local Mayor Katie Witt are too far behind to overcome their vote deficits.
Businessman and former NFL player Burgess Owens scored a convincing victory last night in the 4th District Republican primary, defeating state Rep. Kim Coleman (R-West Jordan) and two others with 43% of the vote. Though over half the precincts are still not reporting, Mr. Owens has already been projected as the winner.
The 4th District race featuring Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Salt Lake City) and now Mr. Owens will be one of the most important congressional races in the country and is a GOP must-win if the party is to make any concerted effort to re-capture the majority. In another race that will take days to determine, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox leads the Republican primary field with 69% of precincts reporting, but the race is not done. Mr. Cox has slightly more than an 11,000-vote advantage over former Gov. Jon Huntsman, but only half of dominate Salt Lake County is reporting and the latter man is running twelve points ahead in that area. The remaining candidates, former state House Speaker Greg Hughes and ex-Utah Republican Party chairman Thomas Wright are too far back to have a realistic chance of winning.
The eventual Republican nominee will become the prohibitive favorite to succeed retiring GOP Governor Gary Herbert. Mr. Cox ran about 25,000 votes ahead of Mr. Huntsman throughout the rural part of the state but trailed by 14,000 votes in Salt Lake County. Because so much of the vote-rich area is still uncounted, this race will tighten substantially. The rest of the counties all show between 66 and 90% of precincts reporting. Dan Jones & Associates, which found former Gov. Jon Huntsman leading Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox in their previous Republican primary poll, now rates the contest as “too close to call.” Their latest survey (6/17-24; 1,247 UT likely Republican primary voters) sees Mr. Cox holding the slightest 30-29% lead over Mr. Huntsman.
In good news for Cox, those 492 respondents who said they have already voted broke 35-30% for the Lt. Governor. Among the 755 sample members who have not cast their ballot, Mr. Huntsman was up 29-27%. Also competing in the race is former state House Speaker Greg Hughes, who has been gaining in polling support, and former Utah Republican Party chairman Thomas Wright. Though the primary is tomorrow, Utah has switched to an all-mail format meaning that it may be several days until we see a declared winner. The eventual GOP nominee is rated as a heavy favorite to succeed retiring Gov. Gary Herbert (R) in November. A Utah Policy Council/KUTV Channel 2 poll (6/9-17; 640 UT registered Republican voters) contradicts last week’s Dan Jones & Associates survey (6/1-10; 555 UT likely Republican primary voters) that projected former Gov. Jon Huntsman taking a slight 35-33% lead over Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. The Utah Policy Council data is closer to the Y2 Analytics survey (released 6/18; respondent data not available) study that posted Mr. Cox to a 34-28% advantage.
The Utah Policy data, however, not only finds Lt. Gov. Cox topping ex-Gov. Huntsman, 34-30%, but shows former state House Speaker Greg Hughes climbing into serious contention with 26%, while former Utah Republican Party chairman Thomas Wright increases his support to 10% preference. The Utah primary is June 30th. Last week, Dan Jones & Associates released a survey of the Utah Republican electorate (6/1-10; 555 UT likely Republican primary voters) that projected former Gov. Jon Huntsman taking a slight 35-33% lead over Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. The two are the top contenders to succeed retiring Gov. Gary Herbert (R) in November.
According to an internal Y2 Analytics survey (released 6/18; respondent data not available), Mr. Cox still maintains a 34-28% lead over Gov. Huntsman with former state House Speaker Greg Hughes reaching 20%, and former Utah Republican Party chairman Thomas Wright lagging behind with 9% preference. The Utah primary is June 30th, and the Republican winner will become the prohibitive favorite in the November general election. For the first time since he announced his political comeback, former Governor and US Ambassador Jon Huntsman has established a lead in a Republican gubernatorial poll for the upcoming June 30th partisan primary. Dan Jones Associates, polling for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce (6/1-10; 555 UT likely Republican primary voters) finds Mr. Huntsman topping the GOP field with 35% preference, slightly ahead of Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who posts 33% support. Former Utah state House Speaker Greg Hughes and ex-Utah Republican Party chairman Thomas Wright follow well behind with 10 and 5 percent, respectively.
The June 30th primary promises to be close. Every other recent survey has projected Lt. Gov. Cox in first place. The Republican primary winner becomes the prohibitive favorite to replace retiring Gov. Gary Herbert (R) in November. |
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