Utah Republican Party

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Political party

Utah Republican Party

Chairman| Rob Axson
Vice Chairman| Kim Coleman
Secretary| Stafford Palmieri
Treasurer| McKay Newell
House leader| Mike Schultz
Senate leader| J. Stuart Adams
Founded| 1854
Preceded by| Whig Party
Free Soil Party
Headquarters| 117 E. South Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Membership (2024)| 902,296[1]
Ideology| Conservatism
National affiliation| Republican Party
Colors|   Red
Seats in the United States Senate|

2 / 2

Seats in the United States House of Representatives|

4 / 4

Seats in the Utah Senate|

22 / 29

Seats in the Utah House of Representatives|

61 / 75

Election symbol
Website
www.utgop.org

* Politics of Utah
* Elections

The Utah Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently the dominant party in the state, and has been for almost all of its history. It currently holds Utah's entire congressional delegation, all statewide executive offices, and supermajorities in both state legislative chambers.

## History

[edit]

The state of Utah politics was reorganized after the 1890 Manifesto led by Wilford Woodruff. The 1890 Manifesto officially ended the traditionally Mormon practice of Polygamy. Many prominent polygamist Mormons were imprisoned, punished and harassed since the 1890 Manifesto prohibited plural marriage. This action granted the Utah Territory statehood in 1896 on the condition that polygamy was banned in the state constitution. The Republican Frank J. Cannon was the first delegate elected to congress by the state of Utah in 1894.[citation needed]

Although Utah was generally considered a Democratic-leaning area (or an area that would lean Democratic) before statehood, the state of Utah rapidly gained overwhelming support for the Republican Party after 1896. Although the Republican Party had been strongly opposed to polygamy since its inception and had played a major part in abolishing polygamy, the Republican U.S. Senator Reed Smoot rose to political power. Smoot led a political alliance of Mormons and non-Mormons that created a strong Republican party in many parts of the state.[2][not specific enough to verify][non-primary source needed]

The Republican Party is currently dominant in Utah politics: no Democrat has won statewide office since 1996, when Jan Graham was elected attorney general;[3] and when Mia Love replaced Jim Matheson in congress in 2014, Utah's congressional delegation became all-Republican. When Love lost her seat to Ben McAdams in the 2018 election, Democrats regained one of Utah's four seats. After the 2020 election Ben McAdams lost his seat to Burgess Owens and Utah's congressional delegation became all-Republican again.

## Current elected officials

[edit]

The Utah Republican Party controls all five statewide offices and holds a supermajority in the Utah House of Representatives and the Utah State Senate. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and all four of the state's U.S. House seats.

### Members of Congress

[edit]

#### U.S. Senate

[edit]

* Senior U.S. Senator Mike Lee

* Junior U.S. Senator John Curtis

#### U.S. House of Representatives

[edit]

* UT-1st: Blake Moore
* UT-2nd: Celeste Maloy
* UT-3rd: Mike Kennedy
* UT-4th: Burgess Owens

### Statewide offices

[edit]

* Governor: Spencer Cox
* Lieutenant Governor: Deidre Henderson
* Attorney General: Derek Brown
* State Treasurer: Marlo Oaks
* State Auditor: Tina Cannon

### State Legislature

[edit]

* President of the Senate: J. Stuart Adams
* Senate Majority Leader: Evan Vickers
* Speaker of the House: Mike Schultz
* House Majority Leader: Jefferson Moss

## State party organization

[edit]

Office | Office-holder

|

Chair | Robert Axson
Vice Chair | Melanie Monestere
Secretary | Stafford Palmieri
Treasurer | Chris Null

In off-election years the Utah Republican Party holds organizing conventions where state delegates elect a chair, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer. The state party officers are elected for a term of two (2) years.

### Central Committee

[edit]

The State Central Committee (SCC) has representatives from every county in Utah. Along with the automatic members, each county chair and vice-chair, counties are allocated representative based on the number of voting republicans in that county. These representatives are chosen in elections which take place in the Republican county conventions held in odd-numbered years.

### Auxiliaries

[edit]

The Utah Republican Party has seven (7) registered auxiliaries. This list includes: Utah Elephant Club, Utah Federation of Republican Women, Utah Young Republicans, Utah Federation of College Republicans, Utah Native American Caucus, Utah Republican Women's Liberty Caucus, and Utah Republican Veterans' Caucus.

## Utah Federation of College Republicans

[edit]

The Utah Federation of College Republicans (UFCR) is a state-level organization in Utah that oversees College Republican chapters at colleges and universities across the state. It is affiliated with the College Republicans of America (CRA), a national organization established in 2023, and works to promote conservative values, support Republican candidates, and engage college students in political activism. The UFCR operates as an official auxiliary of the Utah Republican Party, it collaborates closely with the state party to advance shared goals.

The UFCR holds chapters at Brigham Young University, University of Utah, Utah State University, Weber State University, and more.[4]

## Election results

[edit]

### Presidential

[edit]

Utah Republican Party presidential election results  Election  | Presidential ticket  | Votes  | Vote %  | Electoral votes  | Result

|
|
|
|
|

1896 | William McKinley/Garret Hobart | 13,491  | 17.27%  |

0 / 3

| Won
1900 | William McKinley/Theodore Roosevelt | 47,139  | 50.65%  |

3 / 3

| Won
1904 | Theodore Roosevelt/Charles W. Fairbanks | 62,452  | 61.41%  |

3 / 3

| Won
1908 | William Howard Taft/James S. Sherman | 61,165  | 56.23%  |

3 / 3

| Won
1912 | William Howard Taft/Nicholas M. Butler | 42,013  | 37.42%  |

4 / 4

| Lost
1916 | Charles E. Hughes/Charles W. Fairbanks | 54,137  | 37.82%  |

0 / 4

| Lost
1920 | Warren G. Harding/Calvin Coolidge | 81,555  | 55.93%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1924 | Calvin Coolidge/Charles G. Dawes | 77,327  | 49.26%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1928 | Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis | 94,618  | 58.58%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1932 | Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis | 84,795  | 41.05%  |

0 / 4

| Lost
1936 | Alf Landon/Frank Knox | 64,555  | 29.79%  |

0 / 4

| Lost
1940 | Wendell Willkie/Charles L. McNary | 93,151  | 37.59%  |

0 / 4

| Lost
1944 | Thomas E. Dewey/John W. Bricker | 97,891  | 39.42%  |

0 / 4

| Lost
1948 | Thomas E. Dewey/Earl Warren | 124,402  | 45.02%  |

0 / 4

| Lost
1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon | 194,190  | 58.93%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon | 215,631  | 64.56%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1960 | Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. | 205,361  | 54.81%  |

4 / 4

| Lost
1964 | Barry Goldwater/William E. Miller | 180,682  | 45.14%  |

0 / 4

| Lost
1968 | Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew | 238,728  | 56.49%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1972 | Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew | 323,643  | 67.64%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1976 | Gerald Ford/Bob Dole | 337,908  | 62.44%  |

4 / 4

| Lost
1980 | Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush | 439,687  | 72.77%  |

4 / 4

| Won
1984 | Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush | 469,105  | 74.50%  |

5 / 5

| Won
1988 | George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle | 428,442  | 66.22%  |

5 / 5

| Won
1992 | George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle | 322,332  | 43.36%  |

5 / 5

| Lost
1996 | Bob Dole/Jack Kemp | 361,911  | 54.37%  |

5 / 5

| Lost
2000 | George W. Bush/Dick Cheney | 515,096  | 66.83%  |

5 / 5

| Won
2004 | George W. Bush/Dick Cheney | 663,742  | 71.54%  |

5 / 5

| Won
2008 | John McCain/Sarah Palin | 596,030  | 62.24%  |

5 / 5

| Lost
2012 | Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan | 740,600  | 72.62%  |

6 / 6

| Lost
2016 | Donald Trump/Mike Pence | 515,231  | 45.54%  |

6 / 6

| Won
2020 | Donald Trump/Mike Pence | 865,140  | 58.16%  |

6 / 6

| Lost
2024 | Donald Trump/JD Vance | 883,818  | 59.38%  |

6 / 6

| Won

### Gubernatorial

[edit]

Utah Republican Party gubernatorial election results  Election  | Gubernatorial candidate/ticket  | Votes  | Vote %  | Result

|
|
|
|

1895 | Heber Manning Wells | 20,833  | 50.32%  | Won Y
1900 | Heber Manning Wells | 40,209  | 51.98%  | Won Y
1904 | John Christopher Cutler | 50,837  | 49.97%  | Won Y
1908 | William Spry | 52,913  | 47.45%  | Won Y
1912 | William Spry | 42,552  | 38.17%  | Won Y
1916 | Nephi L. Morris  | 59,529  | 41.80%  | Lost N
1920 | Charles R. Mabey | 81,550  | 57.59%  | Won Y
1924 | Charles R. Mabey | 72,127  | 47.01%  | Lost N
1928 | William Henry Wattis | 72,306  | 41.08%  | Lost N
1932 | William W. Seegmiller  | 85,913  | 41.76%  | Lost N
1936 | Ray E. Dillman  | 60,118  | 35.41%  | Lost N
1940 | Don B. Colton | 117,713  | 47.69%  | Lost N
1944 | J. Bracken Lee | 122,851  | 49.79%  | Lost N
1948 | J. Bracken Lee | 151,253  | 54.99%  | Won Y
1952 | J. Bracken Lee | 180,516  | 55.09%  | Won Y
1956 | George Dewey Clyde | 127,164  | 38.20%  | Won Y
1960 | George Dewey Clyde | 195,634  | 52.66%  | Won Y
1964 | Mitchell Melich | 171,300  | 43.01%  | Lost N
1968 | Carl W. Buehner | 131,729  | 31.29%  | Lost N
1972 | Nicholas L. Strike  | 144,449  | 30.31%  | Lost N
1976 | Vernon B. Romney | 248,027  | 45.96%  | Lost N
1980 | Bob Wright | 266,578  | 44.43%  | Lost N
1984 | Norman H. Bangerter | 351,792  | 55.87%  | Won Y
1988 | Norman H. Bangerter | 260,462  | 40.13%  | Won Y
1992 | Mike Leavitt/Olene Walker | 321,713  | 42.19%  | Won Y
1996 | Mike Leavitt/Olene Walker | 503,693  | 74.97%  | Won Y
2000 | Mike Leavitt/Olene Walker | 424,837  | 55.77%  | Won Y
2004 | Jon Huntsman Jr./Gary Herbert | 531,190  | 57.74%  | Won Y
2008 | Jon Huntsman Jr./Gary Herbert | 735,049  | 77.63%  | Won Y
2010 (special) | Gary Herbert/Greg Bell | 412,151  | 64.07%  | Won Y
2012 | Gary Herbert/Greg Bell | 688,592  | 68.41%  | Won Y
2016 | Gary Herbert/Spencer Cox | 750,850  | 66.74%  | Won Y
2020 | Spencer Cox/Deidre Henderson | 918,754  | 62.98%  | Won Y
2024 | Spencer Cox/Deidre Henderson | 781,431  | 52.89%  | Won Y

## Right of Association Legal Appeal

[edit]

The State Central Committee (SCC) is the governing body of the party. In 2014 the state legislature passed SB54 which created a pathway by which candidates from all parties in Utah could bypass the nominating conventions and qualify directly for the primary ballot by collecting a required number of signatures.

SB54 forced the parties in Utah to have open primaries, among other demands. The SCC directed its party chairman, James Evans, to file a lawsuit, which sought, among other things, to overturn the use of open primaries. The Utah Republican Party prevailed on this point, which required the state elections office to defer to the Utah Republican Party as to whether the primary would be open or closed and whether unaffiliated voters would be eligible to sign ballot-access petitions for Republican candidates.

The party filed two more lawsuits to try to overturn SB54's signature path to the ballot, but lost those cases. They appealed to the 10th Circuit Court which upheld the lower courts ruling and a subsequent appeal to the US Supreme Court was denied.

### State Party Caucuses

[edit]

Party Caucuses are held every two years in Utah.

## County party organizations

[edit]

Each of Utah's 29 counties has a party organization, which operates within that county and sends delegates to the State Central Committee.

County Party | Website

|

Cache | http://cachegop.com/
Davis | http://www.davisgop.org/
Morgan | http://www.morganutahgop.org/
Salt Lake | http://www.slcogop.com
Sanpete | http://www.sanpetecountyrepublicans.com
Summit | http://www.summitcountygop.org
Utah | http://ucrp.org
Weber | http://www.wcrgop.org

## See also

[edit]

* Republican Party
* Democratic Party of Utah
* Libertarian Party of Utah

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Voter Registration Statistics". Utah Secretary of State. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
2. ^ Utah Republican Party. "Utah Republican Party". Utgop.org. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
3. ^ "Money-burning Dems pamper neglected reds," The Salt Lake Tribune, June 12, 2006
4. ^ http://www.ufcr.gop

## External links

[edit]

* Utah Republican Party
* Utah County Republican Party
* Davis County Republican Party
* Cache County Republican Party
* Utah Republican Veterans Caucus
* Utah Federation of College Republicans
* Utah Teen Aged Republicans
* Republican State Leadership Committee
* Utah Black Republican Assembly

* v
* t
* e

Republican Party

* History
* National Union Party
* Third Party System
* Fourth Party System
* Fifth Party System
* Sixth Party System

Presidential
tickets,
national
conventions,
and
presidential
primaries|

* 1856 (Philadelphia): Frémont/Dayton
* 1860 (Chicago): Lincoln/Hamlin
* 1864 (Baltimore): Lincoln/Johnson
* 1868 (Chicago): Grant/Colfax
* 1872 (Philadelphia): Grant/Wilson
* 1876 (Cincinnati): Hayes/Wheeler
* 1880 (Chicago): Garfield/Arthur
* 1884 (Chicago): Blaine/Logan
* 1888 (Chicago): Harrison/Morton
* 1892 (Minneapolis): Harrison/Reid
* 1896 (Saint Louis): McKinley/Hobart
* 1900 (Philadelphia): McKinley/Roosevelt
* 1904 (Chicago): Roosevelt/Fairbanks
* 1908 (Chicago): Taft/Sherman
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* primaries
* 1916 (Chicago): Hughes/Fairbanks
* primaries
* 1920 (Chicago): Harding/Coolidge
* primaries
* 1924 (Cleveland): Coolidge/Dawes
* primaries
* 1928 (Kansas City): Hoover/Curtis
* primaries
* 1932 (Chicago): Hoover/Curtis
* primaries
* 1936 (Cleveland): Landon/Knox
* primaries
* 1940 (Philadelphia): Willkie/McNary
* primaries
* 1944 (Chicago): Dewey/Bricker
* primaries
* 1948 (Philadelphia): Dewey/Warren
* primaries
* 1952 (Chicago): Eisenhower/Nixon
* primaries
* 1956 (San Francisco): Eisenhower/Nixon
* primaries
* 1960 (Chicago): Nixon/Lodge
* primaries
* 1964 (San Francisco): Goldwater/Miller
* primaries
* 1968 (Miami Beach): Nixon/Agnew
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* 1972 (Miami Beach): Nixon/Agnew
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* 1980 (Detroit): Reagan/G. H. W. Bush
* primaries
* 1984 (Dallas): Reagan/G. H. W. Bush
* primaries
* 1988 (New Orleans): G. H. W. Bush/Quayle
* primaries
* 1992 (Houston): G. H. W. Bush/Quayle
* primaries
* 1996 (San Diego): Dole/Kemp
* primaries
* 2000 (Philadelphia): G. W. Bush/Cheney
* primaries
* 2004 (New York): G. W. Bush/Cheney
* primaries
* 2008 (St. Paul): McCain/Palin
* primaries
* 2012 (Tampa): Romney/Ryan
* primaries
* 2016 (Cleveland): Trump/Pence
* primaries
* 2020 (Charlotte/other locations): Trump/Pence
* primaries
* 2024 (Milwaukee): Trump/Vance
* primaries
* 2028 (Houston)

Presidential
administrations|

* Lincoln (1861–1865)
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* Taft (1909–1913)
* Harding (1921–1923)
* Coolidge (1923–1929)
* Hoover (1929–1933)
* Eisenhower (1953–1961)
* Nixon (1969–1974)
* Ford (1974–1977)
* Reagan (1981–1989)
* G. H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
* G. W. Bush (2001–2009)
* Trump (2017–2021; 2025–present)

U.S. Senate
leaders
and
Conference
chairs|

* J. P. Hale (1859–1862)
* Anthony (1862–1884)
* Sherman (1884–1885)
* Edmunds (1885–1891)
* Sherman (1891–1897)
* Allison (1897–1908)
* E. Hale (1908–1911)
* Cullom (1911–1913)
* Gallinger (1913–1918)
* Lodge (1918–1924)
* Curtis (1924–1929)
* Watson (1929–1933)
* McNary (1933–1940)
* Austin (1940–1941)
* McNary (1941–1944)
* White (1944–1949)
* Wherry (1949–1952)
* Bridges (1952–1953)
* Taft (1953)
* Knowland (1953–1959)
* Dirksen (1959–1969)
* Scott (1969–1977)
* Baker (1977–1979)
* Stevens (1979–1980)
* Baker (1980–1985)
* Dole (1985–1996)
* Lott (1996–2003)
* Frist (2003–2007)
* McConnell (2007–2025)
* Thune (2025–present)

U.S. House
leaders,
Speakers,
and
Conference
chairs|

* Pennington (1860–1861)
* Grow (1861–1863)
* Colfax (1863–1869)
* Pomeroy (1869)
* Blaine (1869–1875)
* McCrary (1875–1877)
* Hale (1877–1879)
* Frye (1879–1881)
* Keifer (1881–1883)
* Cannon (1883–1889)
* Reed (1889–1891)
* T. J. Henderson (1891–1895)
* Reed (1895–1899)
* D. B. Henderson (1899–1903)
* Cannon (1903–1911)
* Mann (1911–1919)
* Gillett (1919–1925)
* Longworth (1925–1931)
* Snell (1931–1939)
* Martin (1939–1959)
* Halleck (1959–1965)
* Ford (1965–1973)
* Rhodes (1973–1981)
* Michel (1981–1995)
* Gingrich (1995–1999)
* Hastert (1999–2007)
* Boehner (2007–2015)
* Ryan (2015–2019)
* McCarthy (2019–2023)
* Johnson (2023–present)

RNC|

| Chairs|

* Morgan
* Raymond
* Ward
* Claflin
* Morgan
* Chandler
* Cameron
* Jewell
* Sabin
* Jones
* Quay
* Clarkson
* Campbell
* Carter
* Hanna
* Payne
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* Hill
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* Hilles
* Wilcox
* Hays
* Adams
* Butler
* Work
* Huston
* Fess
* Sanders
* Fletcher
* Hamilton
* Martin
* Walsh
* Spangler
* Brownell
* Reece
* Scott
* Gabrielson
* Summerfield
* Roberts
* Hall
* Alcorn
* T. Morton
* Miller
* Burch
* Bliss
* R. Morton
* Dole
* Bush
* Smith
* Brock
* Richards
* Laxalt/Fahrenkopf
* Fahrenkopf
* Atwater
* Yeutter
* Bond
* Barbour
* Nicholson
* Gilmore
* Racicot
* Gillespie
* Mehlman
* Martínez/Duncan
* Duncan
* Steele
* Priebus
* McDaniel
* Whatley

|

Chair elections|

* 2009
* 2011
* 2013
* 2015
* 2017
* 2019
* 2021
* 2023
* 2024

Parties by
state and
territory|

| State|

* Alabama
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* Washington
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* Wisconsin
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|

Territory|

* American Samoa
* District of Columbia
* Guam
* Northern Mariana Islands
* Puerto Rico
* Virgin Islands

Affiliated
organizations|

| Congress|

* House Conference
* Legislative Digest
* Steering and Policy Committees
* Senate Conference
* Policy Committee
* Factions
* Freedom Caucus
* Problem Solvers Caucus
* Republican Governance Group
* Republican Study Committee

|

Campaign
committees|

* National Republican Congressional Committee
* National Republican Redistricting Trust
* National Republican Senatorial Committee
* Republican Attorneys General Association
* Republican Governors Association

Constituency
groups|

* College Republicans
* Chairmen
* Congressional Hispanic Conference
* Log Cabin Republicans
* National Black Republican Association
* Republican Hindu Coalition
* Republican Jewish Coalition
* Republican Muslim Coalition
* Republican National Hispanic Assembly
* Republicans Abroad
* Teen Age Republicans
* Young Republicans
* Republicans Overseas

Factional
groups|

* Republican Main Street Partnership
* Republican Majority for Choice
* Republican Liberty Caucus
* Republican National Coalition for Life
* ConservAmerica
* Liberty Caucus
* Ripon Society
* The Wish List

Related|

* Primaries
* Debates
* Bibliography
* International Democracy Union
* Three Legged Stool
* Timeline of modern American conservatism
* Trumpism

* v
* t
* e

Political parties in Utah

Major parties|

* Democratic
* Republican

Ballot-qualified minor parties|

* Constitution
* Green
* Independent American
* Libertarian
* No Labels
* United Utah
* Forward

Defunct parties|

* American
* Independent
* Liberal
* People's
* Personal Choice

Political party strength in Utah
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