The Democratic primary for Utah’s new 1st Congressional District has another potential twist. Candidate and state Sen. Nate Blouin is polling voters to determine whether he, Liban Mohamed or Michael Farrell is the most popular progressive in the race.
“If there's a candidate that it seems like can win this race at this point, that is not me, I'll drop out,” Blouin told KUER.
With the now blue-leaning district, Blouin said this is Utah’s chance to send a progressive to Washington. For him, this means beating former U.S. House Rep. Ben McAdams, the moderate in the race. But after a scandal surrounding his online posts and a convention upset in which Mohamed won over delegates, Blouin may no longer be the progressive frontrunner, and the left-leaning vote could splinter. This could pave the way for a McAdams win.
“Ben has a solid base of support that is, you know, probably not going to go under like 40%,” Blouin said. “And so that leaves a much smaller chunk of the electorate for other people to try and win, and if you split that two or three ways, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to see how a progressive could win in that dynamic.”
For Blouin, McAdam’s voting history in Congress isn’t good enough for Utah’s Democrats.
“Ben McAdams voted against protecting 400,000 acres of public land in Colorado. He was the only Democrat to do that,” he said.
Now, a week before ballots are mailed and just a month before the June 23 primary election, Blouin said he wants to unite with his progressive rivals to “move forward” together and defeat McAdams. The first step, he argues, is determining which candidate has the strongest support.
Blouin said the survey is being distributed by third-party pollster Upswing to 400 likely Democratic voters. Results are expected June 1.
But this is politics, and Blouin’s plan has caveats. The Salt Lake County Clerk has confirmed ballots are already printed, which means regardless of who wins his poll, all four candidates' names will still appear on the ballot.
Blouin said this isn’t a problem because if he does not rise to the top, he would pull out of the race officially. He’s calling on other candidates to do the same.
“At this late juncture, we've got to find a way forward to make sure that we put forward the best, best path to beat Ben McAdams,” he said.
His progressive rivals Liban Mohamed and Michael Farrell are not interested in Blouin’s poll.
“Our campaign is focused on winning and serving the people,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed has run a grassroots campaign relying on small-dollar donations, many coming from those in the muslim community. Like Blouin, he’s been endorsed by well-known Democrats at the national level, like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
He described Blouin’s idea as "audacious,” and said there’s already a candidate who has beaten McAdams on the big stage, and that’s him.
“If the objective is simply to beat Ben McAdams, then it is a no-brainer that we get behind the one progressive that has done it, not the one progressive who has lost,” he said.
Farrell responded to KUER’s questions about Blouin’s poll via email. He said Blouin had contacted him and Mohamed about the proposition, but would not agree to hold off until after the May 27 CD1 debate, organized by the Utah Debate Commission.
“I am not surprised that Nate went ahead without either Liban or me being supportive or on board,” Farrell said.
“Nate continues to think he is the best candidate in this race, but he has proven time and again that is not the case.”
Blouin was elected to the state senate in 2022 and has been a dominant progressive voice in the Legislature on things like the Great Salt Lake and environmental policy.
He’s been endorsed by national political figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna, but his campaign has come with its share of challenges. In April, decades-old online posts surfaced days before the Democratic convention. Blouin said he turned to his national partners and asked if he should drop out of the race then.
“That was a serious conversation we had, and you know, my team and others that I heard from the community were like ‘No, you need to keep going, because no one else has built the sort of momentum that, frankly, can withstand that sort of hit that we took,’” he said.
He stayed in the race and ramped up his efforts, even flying to Los Angeles to appear on far-left political commentator Hasan Piker’s Twitch stream.
Now, he’s moving forward with this poll.
McAdams and Blouin both have name recognition, which would mean a poll for the most popular progressive would likely favor Blouin. When asked about this, Blouin said that’s how races work.
“If you don't have that name ID going into the poll, and you're worried about that, then you should be very worried about your chances in an election,” he said.
“I don't see any daylight there.”
Mohamed said he was willing to talk with Blouin after the upcoming debate, but did not say whether he would drop out based on the poll.
Farrell said he was willing to do the same, but Blouin has been “unwilling to agree to anything but his own self-imposed deadlines.”
