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Chaffetz Wins GOP Nomination in Utah's 3rd District

Whittney Evans

 
Incumbent congressman Jason Chaffetz will be the Republican nominee in the race for Utah’s 3rd congressional district. Chaffetz defeated his opponent BYU Professor Chia-Chi Teng in the Republican primary Tuesday. 

Results reported on Tuesday night showed Chaffetz leading with about 78% of the vote on Tuesday evening. The congressman says that number proves that most voters think he is doing a good job in the U.S. House.

“I think people know that I’m working as hard as I possibly can to represent Utah to Washington," Chaffetz says. "And that it’s a mess, but we’re engaged in that fight.”

Republican challenger Chia-Chi Teng has campaigned aggressively against Chaffetz this year. He criticized the four-term incumbent’s campaign spending and filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. 

Teng says even though he didn’t win in the primary, he thinks that his campaign has made an impact. 

“Our message does resonate with people that we talked to. People do care about controlling federal spending and they care about less government regulation and intrusion,” he says.

Teng wouldn’t say whether he’d run for office in the future, saying only that he’s willing to do anything he can to make sure elected officials address the concerns of voters.  

Meanwhile, Chaffetz says he’s focused on winning the general election in November, where he will face Democratic candidate Stephen Tryon.

Utah’s third district includes parts of Salt Lake County and Utah County and extends to the southeast corner of the state.

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