Democratic candidates and outside groups spent more than $6.1 million fighting over a congressional seat that didn't exist a year ago, and former Congressman Ben McAdams outspent all seven of his rivals combined to win it.
The new Democratic-leaning district, centered on Salt Lake County, was created after a judge threw out the old congressional map, which had been gerrymandered to create four rock-solid Republican seats.
The new 1st District gives Democrats a solid advantage heading into the November election. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as D+13. Under the new boundaries, Kamala Harris would have carried the district by 23 points in 2024, and Joe Biden would have won the district over Republican Donald Trump by nearly 25 points.
However, the partisan lean of the district is not reflected in voter registration. According to voter data provided by L2 Political, Democrats are the third largest party in the district at 25%. Unaffiliated voters make up the largest bloc with 34.6% of registrations, while Republicans are close behind at 33.6%.
According to the newest financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission, the eight Democrats who initially entered the race raised more than $3.75 million while spending $3.4 million between November and the June primary election.
McAdams, who won the four-way primary election with 51.9%, raised and spent more than the rest of the Democratic field combined, reporting nearly $2.3 million in donations and $1.97 million in expenditures since he officially entered the race last November.
Independent outside organizations poured nearly $2.7 million into the race for advertisements, mailers and text messages supporting McAdams’s campaign. No other candidate in the race received outside support.
State Sen. Nate Blouin, who finished second in the primary election with 27.5%, raised over $688,000 for his campaign while spending over $656,000.
The third-place finisher, political newcomer Liban Mohammed, reported raising just over $352,000 while his campaign spent $273,000 on the race.
Attorney Michael Farrell, who finished fourth, reported raising $313,000, but most of that, $200,000, was from money he loaned his own campaign. Farrell spent $274,000 on his campaign.
Two of the four other Democratic candidates, state Sen. Kathleen Riebe and former state Sen. Derek Kitchen, dropped out of the race before the Democratic state convention.
The other two, former Salt Lake City Council Member Eva Lopez Chavez and Luis Villarreal, were eliminated from the race at the Democratic State Convention in April.
Because of the Democratic lean of the district, McAdams will be favored over Republican nominee Riley Owen in November’s election and starts the race with a massive 31-to-1 cash advantage.
McAdams reported having just under $300,000 on hand at the end of June, while Owen has just $9,568 in his campaign coffers.
2nd Congressional District
Three-term incumbent Rep. Blake Moore cruised past state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee in the GOP primary by more than 13 points.
Lisonbee was massively outgunned financially. From the day she officially entered the race on March 10, Moore raised three times as much cash as Lisonbee ($545,000 to $176,000) and spent nearly five times as much ($776,000 to $161,073).
Outside groups dropped more than $1 million into the race, with most of it either supporting or attacking Moore.
The Defending Conservative Values PAC, which was funded mostly by the Club for Growth’s political arm, spent more than $487,000 on ads attacking Moore. That was countered by more than $530,000 in pro-Moore spending, mostly from the Defend American Jobs super PAC, which spent nearly $400,000 on ads backing Moore.
A local group, Defending Utah Values, which is led by Owen Fuller, a longtime political ally of Gov. Spencer Cox, spent nearly $50,000 on digital ads opposing Lisonbee and approximately $20,000 on digital ads supporting Moore.
Moore’s main competition in the November election is Democrat Peter Crosby, where he’ll be heavily favored to win a fourth term in Congress. The Cook Political Report rates Utah’s 2nd District as R+15. He reported having more than $1.8 million in cash on hand, while Crosby has just over $23,000.
3rd Congressional District
Former state Rep. Phil Lyman didn’t put up much of a fight against incumbent Celeste Maloy. After the two candidates essentially tied among delegates at the State GOP Convention in April, Maloy whipped Lyman in the June primary by more than 30 points.
Maloy overwhelmed Lyman financially, outspending him by nearly 15-to-1 ($647,736 to $43,485) from the time he declared his candidacy in March.
Lyman couldn’t find much financial support for his campaign, either. Just 16 people made large enough donations to his campaign to trigger disclosure requirements under Federal Election Commission rules. He raised $43,485 over that span, compared to $647,736 for Maloy.
Outside groups pumped more than $1.6 million into the race.
The Defending Our Values super PAC, which is controlled by former Rep. Chris Stewart, spent nearly $1 million on ads supporting Maloy. Maloy was a lawyer in Stewart’s congressional office before she won the special election to replace him when he resigned from Congress in 2023.
The Keeping America Strong PAC spent $300,000 on ads attacking Maloy. The PAC is solely funded by a Lehi-based firm named Government Leadership Solutions. That same company donated $550,000 to Lyman’s 2024 gubernatorial campaign.
Government Leadership Solutions appears to be related to Lyman’s family. Business records show the company shares an address with the Lyman Family Farm. The sole listed officer for Government Leadership Solutions, Chris Webb, is also the vice president of Lyman Family Farm.
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