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Find KUER's reporting on the races, candidates and more for Utah’s 2018 midterm elections. Click here for our graphics of the U.S. Senate race, 4 Congressional races and Utah ballot initiatives.

Legislative Primary Races Finally Have Official Winners

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Derek Kitchen, left; Jen Dailey-Provost, center; and Brian Zehnder, right, all won their primaries for seats in the Utah Legislature.

Final results from last month’s primary showed leading legislative candidates held on to victory.

Two of the legislature’s most liberal downtown districts now have Democratic nominees: Salt Lake City Councilman Derek Kitchen for the Senate, and lobbyist Jennifer Dailey-Provost for the House.

Dailey-Provost was in a four-way Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, in the 24th House District. She won the primary with only 55 votes more than her closest opponent, Igor Limansky.

Dailey-Provost will face Republican candidate Scott Rosenbush. Kitchen will face Republican Chase Winder for the Senate seat currently held by vocal progressive Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City.

Moderate freshman Sen. Brian Zehnder, R-Cottonwood Heights, was forced into a primary earlier this year but defeated his Republican opponent Jaren Davis by more than 20 percentage points. Zehnder was appointed in early 2018 to replace former Sen. Brian Shiazowa, who left to take a job with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He will face Democrat Kathleen Riebe on the November ballot.

Three House incumbents held off primary challengers, too. Reps. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, Christine Watkins, R-Price, and Brad Last, R-Hurricane, all won their primary races by wide margins.

More than 42 percent of eligible voters in Salt Lake County cast their ballots, making it one of the county’s highest primary turnouts ever.

In Davis County's House District 20, Melissa Garff Ballard won a three-way Republican primary and faces Democrat Ryan Jones in the general election. The seat is currently held by retiring Rep. Rebecca Edwards, R-North Salt Lake.

 
This story will be updated.

Nicole Nixon holds a Communication degree from the University of Utah. She has worked on and off in the KUER Newsroom since 2013, when she first joined KUER as an intern. Nicole is a Utah native. Besides public radio, she is also passionate about beautiful landscapes and breakfast burritos.
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