In a midterm elections blowout, all four of Utah’s Republican U.S. House delegation won their races Tuesday night.
The AP called the races for incumbent Reps. John Curtis, Chris Stewart, Blake Moore and Burgess Owens after an initial delay of preliminary results due to lines at polling places. FiveThirtyEight projected that each U.S. House candidate in Utah would win by more than 20 points — and the incumbents beat that prediction by a comfortable margin, despite the slow count.
Rep. Burgess Owens beat Democrat Darlene McDonald by more than 30 points, according to the AP. Owens was expected to win a second term, especially with the newly drawn congressional district.
Utah’s 4th Congressional District used to be the most competitive House battleground in the state. Back in 2020, the Republican narrowly defeated Democrat Ben McAdams by more than 3,000 votes. But the once purple arena has become more GOP secure after the Utah Legislative Redistricting Committee redrew the district’s boundaries earlier this year.
Owens thanked his fellow Republicans in the room and those who voted for him in this midterm election.
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Rep. Curtis, who represents Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, was up nearly 40 points against Democratic challenger Glen Wright. His district covers parts of Provo all the way down to southern Utah.
Before polls closed on Election Day, Rep. Curtis told KUER at the Utah Republican watch party at the newly opened Hyatt Regency in downtown Salt Lake City that he is mostly “ready for this [the election] to be over.” He added that if Republicans take control of the House they will “go back to Washington and start governing.”
His example was the amount of federal spending under the Democratic administration.
“The massive spending, that to me has been so frustrating,” he said. “The massive spending coming out of Washington and no ability in the minority to do anything about it.”
Once he returns to Washington, Curtis said he’ll re-introduce legislation related to data privacy, amping up America’s supply chain, climate change and energy production.
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Rep. Chris Stewert also attended the Utah GOP election night party. Stewart was up by more than 30-points against his opponent when AP called the race.
Prior to results rolling in, Stewart thought his race against Democrat Nick Mitchell would be “OK.” But overall, he said he was feeling “excited for lots of reasons,” like other Republican races across the nation.
“Whether you like Donald Trump or not, he really did change the party in the sense that we became the party of the people,” Stewart said. “We represent farmers, firemen, policemen, teachers, small business owners.”
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Rep. Moore didn’t attend the Utah GOP election night party but was the first race of the four to be called early in the evening. As of election night, Moore was ahead in Utah’s 1stCongressional District by nearly 74%.
“I am more resolved than ever to double down on the Biden administration's failed approach to our most pressing challenges,” Moore said in an emailed statement. “My congressional colleagues and I will hold the administration accountable and deliver on legislation to support our families, workforce, and next generation.”
Carson Jorgenson, the Utah GOP chair, said while House Republicans won, “the fight isn’t over,” and the party is ready to swing right into campaigning for the 2024 presidential election.
