Rep. Ben McAdams and gubernatorial candidate Chris Peterson, both Democrats, were sent straight to the November ballot at the Utah party’s state convention Saturday, April 25, 2020. | PhotoJoiner composite photo: Deseret News archives and Peterson for Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Republican and Democratic party delegates held virtual state conventions Saturday to advance candidates to the ballot in key races, including for governor and the 4th Congressional District seat held by Rep. Ben McAdams, the state’s only Democrat in Congress.
State Democrats finished voting first Saturday, while Republicans were expected to announce results later this evening. Delegates in both parties cast ranked-choice ballots electronically after reviewing videotaped speeches from the candidates posted online, skipping the usual convention fanfare due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Democrats overwhelmingly voted to send McAdams and gubernatorial candidate Chris Peterson, a University of Utah law professor, straight to the November ballot, while Republicans already have primary elections in both of those races after some candidates gathered voter signatures to guarantee they’d be on the June ballot.
A video was posted on the Utah Democratic Party’s convention website from former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee who came in second in Utah’s Super Tuesday presidential primary behind Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Biden thanked Utah Democrats for their “hard work to elect Democrats up and down the ballot” and called beating GOP President Donald Trump “our first and most important mission.” In a separate video, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennett praised fellow Democrat McAdams for providing a “blueprint” for winning in GOP-dominated areas.
McAdams won the seat in 2018, defeating Republican Rep. Mia Love by less than 700 votes. Saturday, he had just over 89% of the delegate vote over Daniel Beckstrand, who told delegates he supported the Green New Deal, universal health care and other progressive causes.
The congressman was unable to join an online news conference after the Democratic delegate vote was announced, but said in a statement he is “grateful to the delegates for their participation and for supporting my continued service as an independent voice for our state in Washington.”
McAdams said he’s “eager to continue fighting to make sure health care is affordable and accessible for all Utahns as well as finding ways to work with leaders from parties to get our country safely reopened and our economy back on track.”
The 4th District race had been viewed as one of the country’s most competitive, but national rating outlets have recently given McAdams the edge. A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll found the district’s voters are split over reelecting McAdams, but two-thirds of likely GOP voters aren’t sure which Republican they support.
Utah Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Merchant said given McAdams’ narrow victory in the 2018 general election, “giving him the ability to jump right in and not be distracted by a primary will be very helpful to him.”
Peterson, who worked for the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau under President Barack Obama, was one of six Democrats running for governor. Delegates gave him more than 88% of the vote over former state lawmaker Neil Hansen; travel company executive Zachary Moses, Archie A. Williams III, Nikki Ray Pino and Ryan Jackson.
“I believe that our government needs to do more to help ordinary working families” during the COVID-19 crisis, Peterson told delegates, including “pumping the brakes on evictions and foreclosures.” He said Democrats have an opportunity because of “some pretty feckless and irresponsible leadership” from Republicans in Washington, D.C.
It’s been 40 years since Utah has elected a Democratic governor, and Peterson acknowledged the race will be a “tough uphill climb. The simple fact is whoever emerges from the Republican Party on the other side is going to have a lot more money than me.”
But Peterson said he believes there are a lot of “moderates who are willing to maybe consider a change.” The governor’s seat is open, with Gov. Gary Herbert not seeking re-election after winning two terms as lieutenant governor and then serving more than a decade as governor.
There will be a Democratic primary between Darren Parry and Jamie Cheek in the 1st Congressional District, where longtime Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, is not running again but is a candidate for lieutenant governor. Democratic Attorney General candidate Greg Skordas won the party’s nomination with more than 96% of the vote.
Democrats also approved a resolution demanding the governor and Legislature “disregard any directive from President Trump in regards to COVID-19 response that is not solidly supported by the best available evidence and science” and calling for “a slow, careful, and strategic lessening of social distancing and lockdown measures.”
Republican delegates, who are voting via an app, have been able to cast convention ballots since Thursday.
In the GOP race for governor, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and former Utah GOP Chairman Thomas Wright are already on the primary ballot. Republican delegates are deciding today among them and four other candidates — former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton, entrepreneur Jeff Burningham, and perennial candidate Jason Christensen.
Because Hughes, Winder Newton, Burningham and Christensen are only competing for delegate support, their races will end if they are not chosen at convention. Delegates will either send a single candidate to the ballot if that candidate gets over 60% of the vote, or the top-two finishers.
An eighth GOP candidate for governor, Jan Garbett, chose not to compete at the convention but did not collect enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot and is suing the state.
There are also three candidates already on the GOP primary ballot in the 4th District race: former KSL Newsradio host Jay Mcfarland, non-profit CEO Trent Christensen, and former NFL player Burgess Owens. Four Republicans are competing only at convention — state Rep. Kim Coleman, R-West Jordan; former Utah GOP communications advisor Kathleen Anderson; nurse practitioner Chris Biesinger; and businesswoman Cindy Thompson.
Coleman has expressed confidence she will be advanced to the primary by delegates but if she — or Anderson Biesinger or Thompson — are not among the one or two contenders for the 4th District nomination chosen at convention, their races will be over.
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