2018 Utah Senate elections
General	November 6, 2018
Primary	June 26, 2018

Republicans maintained their supermajority in the 2018 elections for Utah State Senate, since, after the election, they controlled 23 seats to Democrats' six. Fifteen of 29 Senate seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans held 24 seats to Democrats' five.

The Republican Party maintained its trifecta in Utah in 2018 by holding its majorities in the state Senate and House. The governorship, held by Gary Herbert (R), was not up for election.

Because state senators in Utah serve four-year terms, winning candidates in this election served through 2022 and played a role in Utah's redistricting process. Congressional and state legislative district lines are drawn by the state legislature. Read more below.

The Utah State Senate was one of 87 state legislative chambers holding elections in 2018. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Utah state senators serve staggered, four-year terms and half of the Senate is up for election every two years.

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

Post-election analysis[edit]

See also: State legislative elections, 2018

The Republican Party maintained supermajority status in both chambers of the Utah State Legislature in the 2018 election. In the state Senate, 15 out of 29 seats were up for election. The Republican Utah State Senate supermajority was reduced from 24-5 to 23-6. One Republican incumbent was defeated in the general election.

The Utah House of Representatives held elections for all 75 seats. The Republican supermajority in the House of Representatives was reduced from 61-13 to 58-17. One seat was vacant before the election. One Republican incumbent was defeated in the general election.

National background[edit]

On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly scheduled elections for 6,073 of 7,383 total seats, meaning that nearly 82 percent of all state legislative seats were up for election.

• Entering the 2018 election, Democrats held 42.6 percent, Republicans held 56.8 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.6 percent of the seats up for regular election.
• Following the 2018 election, Democrats held 47.3 percent, Republicans held 52.3 percent, and independents and other parties held 0.4 percent of the seats up for regular election.
• A total of 469 incumbents were defeated over the course of the election cycle, with roughly one-third of them defeated in the primary.

Want more information?

• Incumbents defeated in 2018's state legislative elections
• 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
• 2018 election analysis: Number of state legislators by party
• 2018 election analysis: State legislative supermajorities

Candidates[edit]

See also: Statistics on state legislative candidates, 2018

General election candidates[edit]

Utah State Senate elections, 2018
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name. = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 2	Derek Kitchen	Chase Winder
District 3	Gene Davis (i)	Jeremy Egan
District 4	Jani Iwamoto (i)	Alan Monsen
District 5	Karen Mayne (i)	Kimdyl Allen
District 8	Kathleen Riebe	Brian Zehnder (i)	John Jackson (United Utah Party)
District 9		Kirk Cullimore	Alexander Castagno (United Utah Party)
District 11	Christian Burridge	Dan McCay
District 12	Clare Collard	Daniel W. Thatcher (i)	Abrian Velarde (Green Party)
District 15		Keith Grover	Tommy Williams (Independent American Party) Lee Houghton (United Utah Party)
District 17	Michael Keil	Scott Sandall
District 18	Jason Yu	Ann Millner (i)	Kevin Bryan (Libertarian Party)
District 21	Jake Penrod	Jerry Stevenson (i)
District 22		Stuart Adams (i)
District 26	Eileen Gallagher	Ronald Winterton	Cathy Callow-Heusser (United Utah Party)
District 28	Mark Chambers	Evan Vickers (i)

Write-in candidates[edit]

Vance Hansen - District 2

Monica Zoltanski - District 9

Primary election candidates[edit]

2018 Utah State Senate primary candidates
District	Democrat	Republican	Other
2	Derek Kitchen a Jennifer Plumb	Chase Winder a
3	Gene Davis (I) a	Marlin Baer Jeremy Egan a
4	Jani Iwamoto (I) a	Alan Monsen a
5	Karen Mayne (I) a	Kimdyl Allen a
8 (two-year term)	Kathleen Riebe a	Brian Zehnder (I) a Jaren Davis	John Jackson (United Utah) a
9	No candidate	Kirk Cullimore a	Alexander Castagno (United Utah) a
11	Christian Burridge a	Dan McCay a
12	Clare Collard a	Daniel W. Thatcher (I) a	Abrian Velarde (G) a
15	No candidate	Keith Grover a	Tommy Williams (Independent American) a Lee Houghton (United Utah) a
17	Michael Keil a	Scott Sandall a Clark Davis
18	Jason Yu a	Ann Millner (I) a	Kevin Bryan (L) a
21	Jake Penrod a	Jerry Stevenson (I) a
22	No candidate	Stuart Adams (I) a
26	Pat Vaughn Eileen Gallagher a	Ronald Winterton a Jack Rubin Brian Gorum	Cathy Callow-Heusser (United Utah) a
28	Mark Chambers a	Evan Vickers (I) a
Notes	• An (I) denotes an incumbent.
	• Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our Elections Project.

Eliminated in convention[edit]

Last updated: May 1, 2018

• Jessica Foard (D) - District 2
• Tim Chambless (D) - District 2
• Nadia Mahallati (D) - District 2
• Shawn Robinson (D) - District 2
• Kathie Allen (D) - District 8
• Monica Zoltanski (D) - District 9
• David Hart (R) - District 9
• LaVar Christensen (R) - District 11
• DeLaina Tonks (R) - District 11
• Emily Ellsworth (R) - District 15
• Alisa Ellis (R) - District 26

Margins of victory[edit]

See also: Margin of victory analysis for the 2018 state legislative elections

A margin of victory (MOV) analysis for the 2018 Utah State Senate races is presented in this section. MOV represents the percentage of total votes that separated the winner and the second-place finisher. For example, if the winner of a race received 47 percent of the vote and the second-place finisher received 45 percent of the vote, the MOV is 2 percent.

The table below presents the following figures for each party:

• Elections won
• Elections won by less than 10 percentage points
• Elections won without opposition
• Average margin of victory^[1]

Utah State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory Analysis
Party	Elections won	Elections won by less than 10%	Unopposed elections	Average margin of victory[1]
Democratic	5	0	0	35.8%
Republican	10	1	1	39.4%
Other	0	0	0	N/A
Total	15	1	1	37.6%

The margin of victory in each race is presented below. The list is sorted from the closest MOV to the largest (including unopposed races).

Utah State Senate: 2018 Margin of Victory by District
District	Winning Party	Losing Party	Margin of Victory
Utah State Senate District 12	Republican	Democratic	5.2%
Utah State Senate District 8	Democratic	Republican	14.2%
Utah State Senate District 26	Republican	Democratic	27.8%
Utah State Senate District 9	Republican	United Utah Party	31.8%
Utah State Senate District 18	Republican	Democratic	33.9%
Utah State Senate District 4	Democratic	Republican	34.2%
Utah State Senate District 11	Republican	Democratic	35.5%
Utah State Senate District 5	Democratic	Republican	37.3%
Utah State Senate District 3	Democratic	Republican	40.1%
Utah State Senate District 21	Republican	Democratic	43.4%
Utah State Senate District 2	Democratic	Republican	53.3%
Utah State Senate District 17	Republican	Democratic	55.7%
Utah State Senate District 28	Republican	Democratic	58.3%
Utah State Senate District 15	Republican	United Utah Party	63.4%
Utah State Senate District 22	Republican	None	Unopposed

Seats flipped[edit]

See also: State legislative seats that changed party control, 2018

The below map displays each seat in the Utah State Senate which changed partisan hands as a result of the 2018 elections, shaded according to the partisan affiliation of the winner in 2018. Hover over a shaded district for more information.

State legislative seats flipped in 2018, Utah State Senate
District	Incumbent	2018 winner	Direction of flip
Utah State Senate District 8	Brian Zehnder	Kathleen Riebe	R to D

Incumbents retiring[edit]

Six incumbents did not run for re-election in 2018. Those incumbents were:

Name	Party	Office
Jim Dabakis	Democratic	Senate District 2
Wayne Niederhauser	Republican	Senate District 9
Howard Stephenson	Republican	Senate District 11
Margaret Dayton	Republican	Senate District 15
Peter Knudson	Republican	Senate District 17
Kevin Van Tassell	Republican	Senate District 26

Process to become a candidate[edit]

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Utah

See statutes: Title 20, Chapter 9 of the Utah Election Code

Political party candidates[edit]

A political party candidate must first file a declaration of candidacy in person with either the Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor or the county clerk in the candidate's county of residence. The filing period opens on January 2 of the year in which the regular general election is held. If January 2 is one a weekend, the filing period opens the first business day after January 2. The filing period ends on the fourth business day after the opening of the filing period.^[2][3][4]

The candidate must provide a certified copy of the declaration of candidacy to the chair of the county or state political party of which the candidate is a member. The candidate must also file a fair campaign practices pledge with the Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor. The candidate must provide a certified copy of the candidate's pledge to the chair of his or her county or state political party.^[4]

A candidate must also pay a filing fee. The filing fee is $50 plus one-eighth of 1 percent of the total salary for the full term of the office that the candidate is seeking. A person who is unable to pay the filing fee may file a declaration of candidacy without payment of the filing fee upon a showing of "impecuniosity" (i.e., lacking sufficient funds) as evidenced by an affidavit of impecuniosity filed with the filing officer and, if requested by the filing officer, a financial statement filed at the time the affidavit is submitted.^[4]

A political party candidate can be nominated via the convention process or the petition process. Conventions, and nominations made via convention, are conducted in accordance with political party bylaws. If a candidate opts to petition for ballot placement, he or she must collect signatures. Prior to doing so, the candidate must file a notice of intent to gather signatures with either the lieutenant governor's office of the county clerk in the candidate's county of residence (this form is distinct from the declaration of candidacy form noted above). Signature requirements vary according to the office being sought.^[5]

In order to sign a petition for a political party candidate, a voter must be allowed to vote in that party's primary election. A voter cannot sign more than one petition for the same office. Completed petitions must be submitted to either the lieutenant governor's office or the county clerk for candidates whose districts lie entirely within a single county. The filing deadline is two weeks prior to the party's nominating convention.^[5]

Independent candidates[edit]

A candidate who does not wish to affiliate with a ballot-approved political party may appear on the general election ballot by submitting a petition and a certificate of nomination form. A candidate for the office of governor must submit a petition with the signatures of at least 1,000 registered Utah voters. A candidate for the United States Senate must submit a petition with the signatures of at least 1,000 registered Utah voters. A candidate for the United States House of Representatives must submit a petition with the signatures of at least 300 registered voters residing within the congressional district, or at least 5 percent of the registered voters residing within the congressional district, whichever is less. A candidate for the state legislature must submit a petition with the signatures of at least 300 registered voters residing within the political division, or at least 5 percent of the registered voters residing within the political division, whichever is less.^[4][6]

The names on the petition must be verified by the appropriate county clerk(s). After the petition has been verified, a candidate for state office is required to file the same petition and a certificate of nomination with the Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor. The filing period opens on January 2 of the year in which the regular general election is held. If January 2 is one a weekend, the filing period opens the first business day after January 2. The filing period ends on the fourth business day after the opening of the filing period.^[7][4]

Write-in candidates[edit]

To become a valid write-in candidate for a state office, an individual must file a declaration of write-in candidacy no later than 60 days before the regular general election. A candidate for statewide offices must file the declaration in person with the Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor. All other state office candidates may file the declaration in person either with the county clerk in their counties of residence or with the Office of the Utah Lieutenant Governor.^[4]

Qualifications[edit]

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

To be eligible to serve in the Utah State Senate, a candidate must be:^[8]

• A U.S. citizen at the time of filing
• 25 years old at the filing deadline time
• A three-year resident of Utah at the filing deadline time
• A resident for 6 months of the senate district from which elected at the filing deadline time
• No person holding any public office of profit or trust under authority of the United States, or of this State, can be a member of the state senate, provided, that appointments in the State Militia, and the offices of notary public, justice of the peace, United States commissioner, and postmaster of the fourth class, shall not, within the meaning of this section, be considered offices of profit or trust.
• A qualified voter. A qualified voter is someone who is:

* A U.S. citizen

* A resident of Utah for at least 30 days prior to the next election

* At least 18 years old by the next election

* His or her principal place of residence is in a specific voting precinct in Utah.

Salaries and per diem[edit]

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

When sworn in[edit]

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Utah legislators assume office the first day in January.^[9][10]

Utah political history[edit]

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Party control[edit]

2018[edit]

In the 2018 elections, the Republicans majority in the Utah State Senate was reduced from 24-5 to 23-6.

2016[edit]

In the 2016 elections, Republicans increased their majority in the Utah State Senate from 23-5-1 to 24-5. The seat gained by Republicans was previously held by a Libertarian senator.

Trifectas[edit]

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. Looking back to 1992, Republicans in Utah maintained a state government trifecta in every year.

Wave election analysis[edit]

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to state legislative elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose 494 seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 10 state legislative waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

Competitiveness[edit]

Every year, Ballotpedia uses official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Nationally, there has been a steady decline in electoral competitiveness since 2010. Most notable is that the number of districts with general election competition has dropped by more than 10 percent.

Results from 2016[edit]

Below is Ballotpedia's 2016 competitiveness analysis. Click here to read the full study »

Historical context[edit]

See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

Redistricting in Utah[edit]

See also: Redistricting in Utah

Because state senators in Utah serve four-year terms, winning candidates in this election served through 2022 and played a role in Utah's redistricting process. In Utah, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature.

State legislature districts in the 2010-2012 redistricting process[edit]

On October 4, 2011, the state legislature approved new state Senate and House district maps. The House maps were signed into law on October 19, 2011. The Senate maps were signed into law the following day. On January 27, 2012, the legislature passed amendments to these boundaries, which were signed into law on January 30, 2012.^[14]

Pivot Counties[edit]

See also: Pivot Counties by state

There are no Pivot Counties in Utah. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Utah with 45.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 27.5 percent. Independent candidate and Utah native Evan McMullin received 21.5 percent of the vote, his strongest showing in a state. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Utah cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 76.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Utah supported Republican candidates more often than Democrats, 73.3 to 23.3 percent. The state favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district[edit]

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Senate districts in Utah. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[15][16]

See also[edit]

• Utah State Senate
• Utah State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2018
• Utah state legislative Democratic primaries, 2018
• Utah state legislative Republican primaries, 2018

External links[edit]

Suggest a link

• Utah State Legislature

Footnotes[edit]

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