Senate President Stuart Adams spent $719,143 on his losing primary campaign, more than twice what Stephanie Hollist spent to unseat him in one of the most expensive legislative primaries in recent history.
A Utah Political Watch analysis of campaign finance disclosures shows Adams, Hollist and the third candidate, Braden Hess, spent more than $1 million on the Republican race when their affiliated political action committees are counted. Hollist won the June primary by 1,613 votes.
Adams spent $356,852.79 through his campaign and $362,290.51 through his leadership PAC.
Where Adams’ money went
Political consulting was the biggest expense. The campaign and PAC paid five consulting firms a combined $340,041.37. Another $285,399.43 went to advertising and direct mail, and $76,682 went to collect the signatures Adams needed to get on the ballot.
Most of the consulting money went to two firms founded by Greg Powers: G1 Consulting ($202,890.54) and G2Consulting ($19,467.60). Powers was Adams' campaign manager.
The PAC also paid $74,881.10 to Irish Elk, a consulting firm owned by Kyle Palmer, who is listed as an officer of the PAC.
Election Hive billed the campaign and PAC $70,594.72 for advertising and consulting. Matt Lusty, a former Utah House staffer, and lobbyist Casey Hill founded the firm. Daniel Hemmert was a partner along with Jon Cox, Gov. Spencer Cox's cousin, before Hemmert was hired as executive director of the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), which Adams chairs. Hemmert is no longer listed as a partner on the firm's website, but an archived version from June still lists him.
Adams' campaign also received a $5,000 in-kind advertising donation from the All In for Utah PAC. Owen Fuller, a longtime ally of Gov. Spencer Cox, and Hemmert oversee the PAC, according to financial disclosures.
It was difficult to determine exactly what Adams' campaign and PAC spent money on. Several expenditures that appear to be campaign spending were not reported as campaign expenses.
The Adams Leadership PAC, for example, reported a $48,603.73 donation to the Utah Republican Party. The party did not report any donation in that amount. Instead, it recorded six in-kind donations. Five, totaling $39,175, were attributed to "Stuart Adams for Senate" rather than the PAC. A sixth, for $9,428.73, was credited to Palmer.
The donations were likely a pass-through to pay for direct mail on Adams' behalf at the party's reduced bulk-mail rate, which is a common practice. The Utah GOP's expenditure reports show six payments to direct mail firms and the U.S. Postal Service that add up to exactly $48,603.73.
Where the money came from
Adams' campaign and PAC raised nearly $679,000 combined this year, mostly from large-dollar donors.
Eight donors gave $10,000 or more in nine donations that accounted for 56% of the campaign's $300,000-plus haul. That included $40,000 from the Utah Republican Senate Campaign Committee, another PAC Adams controls. His leadership PAC raised more than $377,000 this year. Just under half came from nine donors who gave $10,000 or more.
MIDA-connected donors gave $175,000 to the campaign and PAC. Of that, $135,000 went to the PAC one week after MIDA approved a controversial 40,000-acre data center project in northern Utah.
About 97% of all donations to the campaign and PAC were $1,000 or more.
Hollist relied on family money
Hollist spent 297,000.69 from December through mid-July,most of it ($228,373.76) went toward advertising. She paid $28,800 to a signature-gathering firm to qualify for the ballot.
She financed her campaign largely with her own money and her family's. Of the $318.175 she raised from December through June, more than 90% came from her own funds ($114,000) or from her father ($175,000). She has raised another $31,650 since beating Adams.
Hess finished third with just under 23% of the vote. He spent $8,666.22, almost all of it self-funded. Nearly $6,200 of the $8,647.22 he raised came from his own pocket.
