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📰 Above the fold
Rep. Karianne Lisonbee says she won’t seek re‑election next year, and she’s doing it before the candidate filing window opens—timing that prevents her from clearing the field for a hand‑picked successor, which is the tactic that first sent her to the Capitol.
Here’s how that play works: an incumbent files, which keeps potential challengers at bay, then exits either right before or after the deadline, leaving their preferred replacement unopposed for the nomination.
In 2016, speculation swirled that Rep. Curt Oda (first elected in 2004) would step down. He filed anyway when the window opened. On the final day, Syracuse City Council member Karianne Lisonbee jumped in.
A few days after the window closed, Oda withdrew. Lisonbee was the only Republican left and ultimately ran unopposed after Democrat Kathleen Villanueva exited the race.
In HD14, winning the Republican nomination is the whole ballgame. Voter registration data from L2 shows Republicans make up 53% of registered voters, compared to 10% Democrats. Whoever wins the GOP nomination is the favorite in November.
That’s not the first time that an incumbent has gamed the system to hand-pick a successor.
In 2024, Rep. Tim Jimenez filed to run for a second term in HD28. On the final day of the filing period, Nicholeen Peck filed as a Republican challenger. A few months later, Jimenez withdrew from the race and admitted he had asked Peck to jump in if he stepped aside. She faced no GOP primary and cruised past Democrat Fred Baker.
After state Sen. Pete Suazo’s sudden death in 2001, Democrats tapped his widow, Alicia, to finish the term. When the 2002 filing window opened, she waited until the last minute to bow out, clearing the way for her chosen replacement, Nina Sisneros.
Republican James Evans turned that electoral gamesmanship into a campaign issue, and he became the first Republican to win the Salt Lake City-based senate district in several decades. Two years later, Democrat Fred Fife defeated Evans by just 27 votes.