Utah Auditor election, 2016

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Utah Auditor Election

Primary Date:
June 2016
General Election Date:
November 8, 2016

November Election Winner:
John Dougall (R)
Incumbent Prior to Election:
John Dougall (R)

State Executive Elections
Top Ballot
Governor and Lt. Governor
Attorney GeneralTreasurer
Down Ballot
Auditor
Key election dates

Filing deadline:
March 17, 2016
Nominating conventions:
April 2016Republican Party/May 2016Democratic Party
Primary date:
June 28, 2016
Filing deadline (write-ins):
September 9, 2016
General election date:
November 8, 2016
Recount request deadline:
TBD
Inauguration:
January 2, 2017

Utah held an election for Auditor on November 8, 2016.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Incumbent John Dougall (R) ran for re-election to a second term.
  • No primary elections were held for this race; Democrat Mike Mitchell and Jared Green of the Independent American Party of Utah challenged Dougall in the general election.
  • No Democrat has held the office of state auditor since 1969.
  • Dougall won the general election on November 8, 2016.
  • Candidates[edit]

    Mike Mitchell Utah square.jpeg

    Mike Mitchell (D)
    Accountant


    John Dougall square.jpg

    John Dougall (R)
    Incumbent State auditor since 2013


    Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

    Jared Green (IAP)
    Employee; Fedex Express, Napa Auto Parts



    Results[edit]

    Incumbent John Dougall defeated Mike Mitchell and Jared Green in the Utah auditor election.

    Utah Auditor, 2016
    Party Candidate Vote % Votes
         Republican Green check mark transparent.png John Dougall Incumbent 63.23% 679,655
         Democratic Mike Mitchell 30.66% 329,621
         Independent American Party Jared Green 6.11% 65,690
    Total Votes 1,074,966
    Source: Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office-Elections

    Context of the 2016 election[edit]

    Primary elections[edit]

    A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. In Utah, parties decide who may vote in their primaries. Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters may vote in the Democratic primary. Only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary.[1]

    Unlike the major parties in most states, those in Utah elect delegates who vote to nominate the party candidates at the state conventions without a primary election.[2] In order to receive the nomination at the convention, a candidate must secure at least 60 percent of the vote. If no candidate wins at least 60 percent, a primary election is held.[3]

    Utah's primary elections took place on June 28, 2016. The Republican primary for governor was the only primary election on the ballot. No primary elections were held for state auditor, as all candidates were nominated at party conventions.

    Incumbent John Dougall (R)[edit]

    Dougall was first elected auditor in 2012, when he unseated incumbent Auditor Auston G. Johnson in the Republican primary by a seven point margin. He won the general election by a 35 percent margin. Prior to his election, Dougall had served in the state House since 2003; he stepped down to take the auditor post. He previously worked as an electrical engineer and businessman.

    Party control in Utah[edit]

    Utah state government has been under Republican trifecta control since as early as 1992. Additionally, all partisan state executive offices are also held by Republicans. The state has not seen a Democratic governor since Scott M. Matheson left office in 1985. Utah has not been represented by a Democrat in the U.S. Senate since 1977; the state's electoral college votes have gone to a Republican every presidential election since Lyndon B. Johnson (D) in 1964.[4]

    A Democrat has not held the office of auditor in Utah since Sharp M. Larsen left office in 1969. Republicans have won election to the office by margins of at least 20 percent since 2000, with Republican Auston G. Johnson running unopposed in the 2000 general election.

    Campaigns[edit]

    Campaign finance[edit]

    About the office[edit]

    See also: Utah State Auditor

    The Utah State Auditor is an elected position in the Utah state government. The auditor is the chief watchdog for the state, providing independent audits of Utah's state and local governments. The auditor operates independently of any executive or administrative officers of the state.

    Incumbent[edit]

    The incumbent was Republican John Dougall. He first won election on November 6, 2012, and took office on January 7, 2013.

    Qualifications Article VII, Section 3 of the Utah Constitution establishes the qualifications of the office:

    1. To be eligible for the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor a person shall be 30 years of age or older at the time of election.
    2. To be eligible for the office of Attorney General a person shall be 25 years of age or older, at the time of election, admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the State of Utah, and in good standing at the bar.
    3. To be eligible for the office of State Auditor or State Treasurer a person shall be 25 years of age or older at the time of election.
    4. No person is eligible to any of the offices provided for in Section 1 unless at the time of election that person is a qualified voter and has been a resident citizen of the state for five years next preceding the election.

    Authority[edit]

    The Office of State Auditor is established in Article VII, Section 1 of the state constitution.

    Article VII, Section 1:

    The elective constitutional officers of the Executive Department shall consist of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Attorney General...

    Elections[edit]

    According to Article VII, Section 2 of the state constitution, Utah voters elect the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and auditor...

    ...every four years at the time and place of voting for members of the Legislature. The candidates respectively having the highest number of votes cast for the office voted for shall be elected. If two or more candidates have an equal and the highest number of votes for any one of the offices, the two houses of the Legislature at its next session shall elect by joint ballot one of those candidates for that office.

    • Per Article VII, Section 1, the newly elected auditor takes office beginning on the first Monday of January next after his election.

    Full history[edit]


    Recent news[edit]

    The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Utah Auditor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

    See also[edit]

    Utah government:

    Previous elections:

    Ballotpedia exclusives:

    External links[edit]

    Footnotes[edit]

    1. Project Vote Smart, "Voter Registration: Utah," accessed January 3, 2014
    2. In many states, the party nomination takes the form of an endorsement, with the nominee decided in the primary elections. In other states, the custom is for candidates who are defeated at the party convention to bow out of the race, though they are not required to do so, leaving the primary effectively a formality. Conversely, some states conduct conventions after the primary, making the nominating convention a formality.
    3. The Dallas Morning News, "Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch forced into primary fight," April 21, 2012
    4. National Records and Archives Administration, "Historical election results," accessed June 21, 2016

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