After the sturm und drang of Utah’s redistricting fight, and the grumbling of the state’s Republican leaders about the court-ordered map, you’d be forgiven if you had the impression that the 1st Congressional District was a safe Democratic seat.
It’s a viable seat in the state’s bluest county. But Salt Lake County only went 10 percentage points for Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump in 2024, so it’s not a fait accompli.
Just ask Utah Democratic Party Chair Brian King.
“CD1 is a blue-leaning district, but it's not out of reach for Republicans,” he said. “We're going to need all hands on deck. We're going to have to work really hard, and we're going to have to be unified.”
In 2024, King himself only managed to secure just over 50% of the district’s vote in the governor’s race.
Those numbers have Republican Riley Owen thinking he shouldn’t be written off just yet.
“That's a swing seat,” he said. “It's going to be an uphill battle. Are conservatives the underdogs? Yes, absolutely. But does that scare me? No. I think our republic thrives on a marketplace of ideas, and voters want good choices and good options on the ballot.”
Owen won the Republican nomination outright with 71.2% of the delegate vote at the GOP convention. The twenty-something is a Naval Reserve officer and former Trump White House staffer.
“I think Utahns and Americans want leaders that they can trust, that they can believe in that inspire them,” Owen said at convention.
As the Democratic Party now heads into a four-way primary for the 1st district, even King thinks “a good Republican can win.”
Still, he does think that larger factors are working in Democrats’ favor, including Trump’s record-low approval ratings and a growing feeling that the Legislature’s GOP supermajority is not listening to voters.
King said that could open the door for Democrats to attract conservatives “who would oftentimes see themselves as Republicans and vote for Republicans much more often than Democrats.”
In their state nominating convention, Democratic delegates chose political newcomer Liban Mohamed. He emerged victorious after five rounds of ranked-choice voting over former congressman Ben McAdams by a slim 51.5% to 48.5% margin.
The result sets up a showdown between McAdams, widely seen as the more establishment Democrat in the race, and the more progressive wing of the party. The Democratic ballot will also be crowded as Mohamed, McAdams, state Sen. Nate Blouin and Michael Farrell all gathered enough signatures to appear.
For King, Democrats in CD1 could be in trouble if they spend too much time fighting each other in the primary or focus on issues that don’t resonate with voters. King and the party will stay neutral throughout the primary process, but he said his advice would be the same to everyone in the race.
“If you're a candidate and you're not talking about the real issues that day-to-day human beings in Utah and across the country are dealing with … for crying out loud, you're missing the boat on this.”
Owen, in contrast, can already start honing his message for the general election. He said he’s focusing on issues like affordability, business tax credits for paid maternity leave and housing.
“We all need housing,” he said. “We all live on this planet. I don't think our planet is partisan. We just approach the issues from different ways.”
Regardless of who he’s up against in November, Owen thinks he’s well-positioned to make the race less of a sure thing for the Democrats.
“I'm excited to give voters an informed choice,” he said. “And I'm confident that they'll choose who they believe can provide the most results to improve their lives and to fight for Utahns.”
KUER political reporter Hugo Rikard-Bell contributed to this report.
