Utah's Gop Congressional Delegation Face Primary Challengers (Moore and Curtis voted for J6 committee)

hosted.ap.org ^ | 6/28/22 | Lindsay Whitehurst and Sam Metz

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All four members of the U.S. House from Utah are facing Republican primary challengers Tuesday while the Democratic challengers they’ll face in November are running uncontested.

It is the first primary election since the GOP-controlled state Legislature bypassed an independent redistricting commission and approved political maps that critics decried as gerrymandered because they split up Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City, effectively shoring up Republican advantages in each of the state’s four districts.

The night’s headline race is for the U.S. Senate with Republican Mike Lee trying to fend off two challengers in his bid for a third term.

In the U.S. House races, first-term congressman Blake Moore is facing two challengers in northern Utah’s 1st Congressional District and Chris Stewart, John Curtis and Burgess Owens each face one. At the state GOP's April convention, party delegates, known for leaning further right than the party's overall electorate, backed Moore and Curtis' opponents, forcing the two to gather signatures to quality for the primary ballot.

The Republican primary winners will be favorites in the general elections in an overwhelmingly red state where none of the state’s congressional districts post-redistricting were rated as battlegrounds.

Here’s a look at Utah's congressional races: