Democratic Rep. Andrew Stoddard will run unopposed for reelection in November. His only opponent, Forward Party nominee John Jackson, died in April at 71, and the party has decided not to replace him on the ballot.
Stoddard beat Wendy Davis by 94 votes in June's House District 40 Democratic primary.
It's also too late for an unaffiliated candidate to enter the race—that filing deadline passed June 15. Parties, however, can still replace a candidate who dies or withdraws; this year's deadline is Aug. 31, the last business day of the month.
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Utah Forward Party executive director Phil Boileau said the party won't field a candidate now that Jackson is gone.
“Losing John was a real loss to our community. He was a longtime supporter, first of the United Utah Party and then Forward, and he embodied our belief that elected officials should put independence and their constituents ahead of party machinery. We believe he would have run a great race against Rep. Stoddard,” Boileau said in a text message.
He said Salt Lake County Forward Party leadership decided not to appoint a replacement.
“Had we sought a replacement, we would have wanted to give Forward members as well as all unaffiliated voters in the district a meaningful opportunity both to seek the nomination and to choose who would carry it,” he said. “Doing that fairly takes real time and effort, and with our resources currently focused on supporting our other candidates and Sen. Emily Buss, we didn’t believe we could give that process the attention it deserved.”
The Forward Party, formed last year when it merged with the United Utah Party, will have 18 candidates on November ballots for the Utah Legislature, including Buss, who is seeking to keep her Senate District 11 seat after being appointed last year to replace former Sen. Daniel Thatcher.
The Forward Party made news earlier this year when delegates chose not to nominate anyone in two races, despite having candidates on the ballot. In Congressional District 1, delegates picked "No Candidate at This Time" over January Walker, who was seeking the nomination. In House District 3, Cache County delegates declined to nominate Ben Shaw.
House District 40 isn't the only race headed toward an uncontested finish. Republican State School Board District 5 nominee Michael Clara quit in May after bizarrely accusing party leaders of sabotaging his campaign.
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