Utah’s new court-ordered map draws 41 candidates for Congress
After multiple legal challenges to Utah’s new court-ordered congressional boundaries fell flat (at least for the 2026 midterms), the stage has been set.
The filing period for the state’s congressional candidates closed on Friday. Utah’s four new congressional districts have drawn a crowded field — with 41 candidates having officially filed for their party nominations.
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Many have declared their intentions to use both pathways that Utah law allows candidates to access the nomination — through both signature gathering and through convention. Some are relying wholly on getting enough support from delegates at convention.
On April 25, parties will hold their conventions. But if candidates gather enough signatures, they’ll still qualify to appear on the June 23 primary ballot, regardless of whether they garner support from delegates. Those primary winners will then advance to the general election in November where the winners are likely a foregone conclusion, particularly in the state’s three strong red districts.
The state’s court-ordered map — the result of an anti-gerrymandering lawsuit — has drawn an energized field of Democrats, especially in the newly-drawn 1st Congressional District, which leans heavily Democratic.
Meanwhile, the map also caused a shakeup for Utah’s current all-Republican congressional delegation. Earlier this month, Representative Burgess Owens announced he wouldn’t be seeking reelection, leaving the remaining three of Utah’s sitting members of Congress to vie for the three Republican-leaning districts.
Still, dozens of candidates from all political stripes are competing in all four of the new districts.
Here’s who has declared their candidacy, according to filings posted on the lieutenant governor’s website:
House District 1
The field includes a total of 13 candidates, including seven Democrats, four Republicans and two independents. Two previously declared candidates — Derek Kitchen, a Democrat, and Adam Clayton, a Republican, withdrew.
- Eva Lopez Chavez | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Currently serving as a member of the Salt Lake City Council, Lopez Chavez is the eldest daughter of a working-class Mexican immigrant family, according to her campaign website.
- Nate Blouin | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Currently a state senator, Blouin has a degree in public affairs and he has worked as an advocate for renewable energy, according to his campaign website.
- Ben McAdams | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | A former Salt Lake County mayor and Utah congressman, McAdams was the last Democrat to represent Utah in Washington before he lost reelection in 2020. He grew up in Bountiful, raised by a single mom who worked as a school teacher, according to his campaign website.
- Kathleen Riebe | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Riebe has served as a Utah state senator since 2018 and has also worked as a police dispatcher, a fighterfighter and a teacher, according to her campaign website.
- Michael Farrell | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Farrell has a degree in economics and law, and has worked as a tax attorney in D.C., Switzerland and Texas. He now lives and works as an attorney in Salt Lake City, according to his campaign website.
- Luis Villarreal | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Villarreal was raised in a working-class immigrant family and works as a computer engineer, according to his campaign website.
- Liban Mohamed | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Mohamed’s parents are immigrants from Somalia, who raised him in Utah. Most recently he worked for TikTok’s public policy team before he resigned, according to his campaign website.
- Jonathan Lopez | Republican (convention only) | Lopez’s campaign website hasn’t been updated since his last bid for Utah’s previous 4th Congressional District. It doesn’t contain any information about Lopez’s background, but his candidate filing says he lives in Kearns.
- Stone Fonua | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Fonua has previously run for congressional and legislative offices, but he doesn’t appear to have a campaign website. According to his candidate filing paperwork, Fonua lives in Tooele.
- Riley Owen | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Owen has worked as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and as a former White House staffer where he focused on industrial policy, according to his campaign website.
- Dave Robinson | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Robinson is a former volunteer Salt Lake County Republican Party communications director. His campaign website highlight’s Robinson’s advocacy in water policy and property rights.
- January Walker | Forward Party of Utah (convention only) | Walker previously ran for Congress as a United Utah Party candidate in 2022. She works as a cybersecurity executive, according to her Instagram page.
- Jesse West | Libertarian (convention only) | West doesn’t appear to have a campaign website, but according to his law firm’s website, he’s an attorney. He’s also the vice president of the Mushroom Society of Utah and the Salt Lake County chair of the Utah Libertarian Party.
Former state Senator Derek Kitchen, D-Salt Lake City, previously declared that he could file as a Democratic candidate in the 1st Congressional District, but according to a filing posted to the lieutenant governor’s website, he has withdrawn because he didn’t file a declaration of candidacy during the filing period that closed Friday. In a statement posted on X, Kitchen said he decided not to file after “careful reflection.”
A Republican candidate, Adam Clayton, also previously filed as a candidate, but he withdrew from the race on Monday, according to a filing posted on the lieutenant governor’s website.
House District 2
Ten candidates total are running, including three Republicans, four Democrats, and three third-party candidates.
- Blake Moore | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Moore is a sitting Utah congressman, first elected in 2020 to represent the state’s then-1st Congressional District. Previously he worked as a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State, and as a consultant for Cicero Group, a Utah-based consulting firm, according to his campaign website.
- Karianne Lisonbee | Republican (convention only) | Lisonbee has served in the Utah House of Representatives since 2017. Previously, she served two terms on the Syracuse City Council. She has sponsored legislation focused on businesses, criminal justice, gun rights and abortion restrictions, according to her campaign website.
- Colton Hatch | Republican (convention only) | For six years, Hatch served as a combat engineer for the Utah National Guard, according to his campaign website, which says he didn’t renew his contract in favor of declining the COVID-19 vaccine. He now works for Utah’s pension system, URS.
- Jarom Gillins | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Gillins has worked for the Army, in manufacturing, roofing, commercial driving, and maintaining wind turbines, according to his campaign website. He grew up in Roy.
- Tyler Farnsworth | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Farnsworth has worked as a pediatric psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Before he moved to Utah for work, he was born and raised in Summerfield, Ohio, where his campaign website said he and his family experienced poverty.
- Ian Parrish | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Parrish has worked in the auto finance industry, according to his campaign website, which says he has seen “working-class people struggle while large financial institutions prospered,” an experience that he said has shaped his beliefs that the law should “protect honest people and hold powerful institutions accountable.”
- Peter Crosby | Democrat (convention only) | Crosby currently works as a “director, project manager, and consultant for a research company that supports higher education” and as an adjunct professor for the Center for Anticipatory Intelligence at Utah State University, according to his campaign website.
- Daniel Cottam | Libertarian (convention only) | Cottam, a surgeon who has previously been registered as a Republican and a Democrat, ran for Congress in 2024 for the state’s then-1st Congressional District. He doesn’t appear to have a current campaign website.
- Carlton Bowen | Independent American (convention only) | Bowen has previously run to represent Utah in bids for both the U.S. House and Senate. He has also served on the American Fork City Council, and in the U.S. Air Force, according to his campaign website.
- Neil Hansen | Independent American (convention only) | Hansen previously served as a Democrat in the Utah House of Representatives from 1999 until 2011. He unsuccessfully ran for Utah treasurer in 2024. He doesn’t appear to have a current campaign website.
House District 3
- A total of eight candidates are running for this district, including four Republicans, two Democrats, and two third-party candidates.
- Celeste Maloy | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Maloy is a sitting member of Utah’s congressional delegation representing Utah’s former 2nd Congressional District as an advocate of Southern Utah. She previously worked as chief legal counsel to former Representative Chris Stewart, who later endorsed her to replace him in a special election, according to her campaign website.
- Tyler Murset | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Murset, according to his campaign website, built a voting app called VotingAct. He has a master’s degree in business administration.
- David Harris | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Harris is a combat veteran and retired two-star general who served in the U.S. Air Force, according to his campaign website.
- Phil Lyman | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Lyman previously served in the Utah House of Representatives before unsuccessfully running for governor in 2024, which included an unprecedented showing as a write-in candidate. He also previously served as a San Juan County commissioner.
- Kent Udell | Democrat (convention only) | Udell has worked as a mechanical engineer for mining, petroleum, geothermal and solar industries, according to his campaign website. He’s also been a professor and researcher at UC Berkeley and the University of Utah. Currently he lives in Moab.
- Steven Merrill | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Merrill moved from Michigan to Utah in 2019, according to his campaign website, which said his focus is on putting working-class Utahns first.
- Cassie Easley | Constitution Party (convention only) | Easley’s campaign website describes her as a “constitutionist” who believes in “limited government.” It doesn’t list many details about Easley’s background, but her candidate filing paperwork says she lives in Enoch.
- Michael Stoddard | Libertarian (convention only) | Stoddard previously ran as a Libertarian in 2022 for Utah’s then-3rd Congressional District. He doesn’t appear to have a current campaign website.
House District 4
The field includes a total of 10 candidates, including six Republicans, two Democrats, one Libertarian and one unaffiliated.
- Mike Kennedy | Republican (convention only) | Kennedy is currently serving his first term representing Utah in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before being elected in Congress in 2024, he served 10 years in the Utah Legislature. He practiced family medicine in Utah County for more than 20 years, according to his campaign website.
- Seth Stewart | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Stewart’s campaign website says he has 10 years of experience as a “volunteer precinct and poll worker and multi-time elected delegate.” He lives in American Fork, according to his candidate filing.
- Pasitale Lupeamanu | Republican (convention and signature gathering) | Lupeamanu doesn’t appear to have a campaign website, but he has worked for Alofa Fa’aSamoa, a nonprofit focused on Samoan culture. According to the nonprofit’s website, Lupeamanu is a retired U.S. Marine and Army veteran. He lives in Grantsville, according to his candidate filing.
- Tyrone Jensen | Republican (convention only) | Jensen is a small-business owner who lives in Richfield, according to his campaign website and candidate filing. In 2018 he ran as a write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate; in 2020 he ran against then- Representative Chris Stewart for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District; and in 2023 he ran against Maloy in that year’s special election.
- Scott Hatfield | Republican (convention only) | Hatfield has worked in various governmental roles, including for the city of Ridgecrest in California, the U.S. Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Utah Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Senate, according to his campaign website. He lives in Herriman, according to his candidate filing.
- Isaiah Hardman | Republican (convention only) | Hardman, according to a video posted on his Instagram page, is 25, and is running as an “America First” candidate.
- Archie Williams | Democrat (convention and signature gathering) | Williams doesn’t appear to have a campaign website. According to Ballotpedia, he has worked as a heavy equipment operator and been associated with the Operators Engineer Union. He has previously ran for various other local and federal offices in Utah.
- Jonny Larsen | Democrat (convention only) | Larsen, according to his campaign website, joined the U.S. Marine Corps infantry after he graduated from West High School in Salt Lake City. After his military service, he worked as a lead information technology administrator for the Heart Center at St. Mark’s Hospital, and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in astrophysics at the University of Utah.
- Taylor Wright | Libertarian (convention only) | Wright hosts the Saving Humanity Podcast based in Salt Lake City, according to the podcast’s Instagram page. Wright is also a physical education teacher, according to his campaign website.
- Steven Burt | Unaffiliated | Burt, of South Jordan, is an attorney who has advocated for “energy policy as an in-house attorney and executive in the solar industry,” according to his campaign website. He has also done pro bono work for immigration issues.