Less than a week before Utah's primary election, Senate President Stuart Adams has more money in the bank than any other candidate on the ballot, and he may need every dollar of it as he works to fend off a stiff challenge to his bid for another term in office.
The candidates running in Utah’s 22 legislative primaries raised more than $1.4 million since the Democratic and Republican conventions. About a third of that, $526,000, came from political action committees.
Senate District 7 - Stuart Adams vs. Stephanie Hollist and Braden Hess
Adams is locked in a tight primary race with Republicans Stephanie Hollist and Braden Hess. According to pre-primary financial disclosures, he reported $193,605 in donations since mid-April.
The Adams Leadership PAC, which he controls, gave more than $110,000 to his campaign in cash contributions and in-kind donations. He received $15,000 from the Utah Republican Senate Campaign Committee, which lists Adams and Sen. Kirk Cullimore as the organization’s leaders on paperwork filed with the state. Former Zions Bank President Scott Anderson kicked in another $15,000, spread over two donations.
Adams has the most cash on hand of any primary candidate, with more than $119,000 in the bank. He spent just over $65,000 on signature gathering to qualify for the primary ballot.
He reported spending just over $8,000 on travel and $3,135 for a bill at Bobby Van’s, a ritzy New York City steakhouse.
Hollist raised just over $90,000, with nearly all of it ($75,000) coming from her father, Kayden Bell.
Braden Hess raised just $5,504 during the reporting period, with most of that coming from money he loaned his own campaign.
Senate District 18 - Dan McCay vs. Doug Fiefia
Incumbent Republican Dan McCay avoided elimination from the race at the GOP state convention by just two votes, losing the delegate vote to state Rep. Doug Fiefia. According to the most recent financial disclosures, McCay has outraised Fiefia by nearly 2 to 1 since that close call.
A whopping 81.5% of McCay’s donations ($85,600) came from PACs, industry groups and corporations. The biggest chunk ($40,000) came from the Utah Republican Senate Campaign Committee. That PAC donated another $15,000 to McCay in March. Several of his Senate colleagues added another $17,000 in contributions to his campaign.
Almost all of the money Fiefia reported raising from April to June came from individual donations.
Fiefia’s campaign has a brutal 187% burn rate during the reporting period—he spent nearly twice what he raised and had to dig into the big cash reserves he built up ahead of the convention.
Senate District 21 - Brady Brammer vs. Kelly Smith
Incumbent Republican Brady Brammer raised $124,001 in the pre-primary reporting period, the second most for any candidate on the primary ballot. Much of it came from GOP leadership and allied PACs.
- $40,000 from the Utah Republican Senate Campaign Committee. The same PAC donated $15,000 to him in January.
- Brammer also received a $5,000 donation from the Utah County Legislative PAC, led by Republican state Rep. Stephanie Gricius.
- $5,000 each from Senate Republicans Kirk Cullimore, Chris Wilson and Mike McKell. Sen. Scott Sandall donated $2,500 while Sen. Evan Vickers chipped in $1,000. Former Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis chipped in $1,250, and former Sen. Curt Bramble gave $1,000.
Kelly Smith, Brammer’s primary opponent, reported just over $65,000 in donations, with nearly $15,000 of that an in-kind donation to pay for signature gathering from the Checks and Balances PAC.
Another $20,725 of her donations were from loans she made to her own campaign. She also received $16,500 in cash donations from Fresh Air PAC, headed up by David Garbett, and another $8,000 cash donation from the Checks and Balances PAC.
House District 16 - Trevor Lee vs. Bob Stevenson
Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson outraised incumbent Rep. Trevor Lee by more than 2-1 during the most recent period, but $33,875 of that was a loan from Stevenson to himself. Remove that loan from the total, and the gap narrows to about 1.4 to 1.
Overall, Stevenson has put a little more than $58,000 into his campaign since he jumped into the race in January. Lee has put $10,000 of his own money into his campaign.
Lee raised approximately $36,000 during the current reporting period, but a big chunk was a single $20,000 donation from WCEC Engineers. That same firm donated another $10,000 to Lee’s campaign in March.
Other candidates, both Republican and Democrat, have donated to Stevenson’s quest to unseat Lee in the Utah House. They include:
- $2,500 from Republican congressman Blake Moore.
- $1,000 from Sen. Ann Millner
- $125 from Democratic Salt Lake County Councilmember Ross Romero
- $1,000 from Sen. Jerry Stevenson
Stevenson has also pulled in a $10,000 donation from former Utah House Speaker Kevin Garn, $500 from Ally Isom, who challenged Mike Lee for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2022, $500 from former Utah State Treasurer David Damschen and $1,000 from former Rep. Steve Handy, whom Lee defeated for the GOP nomination in 2022.
A few of Lee’s legislative colleagues have donated to his campaign, but have given far less. His disclosures include a $500 donation from Reps. Neil Walter and Rex Shipp and $50 from Sen. Heidi Balderee.
House District 44 - Jordan Teuscher vs. Scott Stephenson
Like the SD21 race, the GOP establishment has been rallying behind incumbent Rep. Jordan Teuscher as he fights to fend off a potent challenge from Scott Stephenson.
Teuscher raised just over $40,000 following the GOP convention, with more than half of that coming from PACs. He received a pair of $10,000 donations from the Utah House Republican Election Committee PAC and Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz’s leadership PAC.
Current and former legislators who donated to Teuscher include former Rep. Jefferson Burton ($5,000), Sen. Kirk Cullimore ($2,500), Sen. Chris Wilson ($1,000), Sen. Mike McKell ($500), former House Majority Leader Jefferson Moss ($1,000), Rep. Joseph Elison ($1041.98) and former Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis ($1,000).
Nearly 70% of the money Stephenson raised during the just-completed period comes from PACs and labor organizations, which stands to reason as he is the longtime head of the Utah Fraternal Order of Police.
Odds and Ends
Congressional candidates donating to primary candidates
Rep. Blake Moore’s campaign made two donations to Republican primary candidates this cycle, contributing $2,500 to Bob Stevenson in HD16 and $1,000 to Kara Toone in HD14.
Sen. Mike Lee’s leadership PAC donated $5,000 to Dan McCay’s campaign on June 13, just 10 days ahead of the primary.
First Congressional District Democratic candidate Ben McAdams gave $300 to Silvia Catten in SD13, $100 to Stephanie Pitcher in SD14 and $25 to Rep. Andrew Stoddard in HD40.
Jeremy Andrus, CEO of Traeger Grills, has donated to three Republican primary candidates. $10,000 to Doug Fiefia and $2,500 each to Bob Stevenson and Kara Toone.
Pennsylvania real estate developer Howard Rich is Rep. Jordan Teuscher’s largest individual donor during this election cycle, who has donated $15,500 to his campaign. He also donated $500 to Trevor Lee and Democrat Andrew Stoddard. Rich is known for giving to school choice and limited government candidates. He founded U.S. Term Limits and Americans for Limited Government.
Christina “CJ” Hernandez, who is facing Dakota Wurth for the Democratic nomination in SD5, has the most extreme burn rate in the field at 271%. She’s spent nearly three times what she raised during the most recent period. It’s not as alarming as it sounds, since the absolute dollar amount is small.
Five candidates are underwater, reporting negative cash-on-hand, according to the most recent reports. Sheldon Birch (-$4,816), Wendy Davis (-$3,464), John Taylor (-$687), Evan Done (-$655), and Eryn Russo (-$350). Evan Done is notable because he led the fundraising this period in the Democratic primary in SD13, but he spent all of it and then some.
Democrat Wendy Davis, who is challenging Rep. Andrew Stoddard in HD40, is two-thirds self-funded, reporting more than 70 contributions to her campaign totaling nearly $21,000.
Forward Party founder Andrew Yang donated $1,000 to Democrat Karen Kwan in SD12 and $500 to Colin Smith, who is the Forward Party nominee in SD13.
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