Wikipedia

2017 Utah's 3rd congressional district special election

After previously stating that he would not run for re-election, Jason Chaffetz announced on May 19 that he was resigning his seat in the House, effective June 30.[1] A special election was called to replace him with a filing period opening on May 19 and closing by June 30, an expected primary date of August 15, and an election day of November 7.[1]

2017 Utah's 3rd congressional district special election
← 2016 November 7, 2017 2018 →
Utah's 3rd congressional district
 
Nominee John Curtis Kathie Allen Jim Bennett
Party Republican Democratic United Utah
Popular vote 85,751 37,801 13,747
Percentage 58.0% 25.6% 9.3%
Results by county
U.S. Representative before election

Jason Chaffetz
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

John Curtis
Republican

A crowded field of candidates emerged to compete for spots in their respective parties' primaries. 15 Republicans, 4 Democrats, 2 Independent American Party members and 1 Libertarian declared their candidacy. Candidates could qualify for the primary ballot by either being nominated by delegates at their party's convention or gathering 7,000 signatures from registered voters. Those gathering signatures could also seek nomination at their party's convention. The Republican and Democratic parties held conventions June 17 to select a nominee from the declared.[2]

The primary election to determine the Republican Party's candidate for the general election was held on August 15. In addition to the partisan candidates, one unaffiliated candidate appeared on the general election ballot and two candidates ran as a write-in.[2][3]

The general election was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. Republican John Curtis was declared the winner and was subsequently seated by the U.S. House for a term that ends January 3, 2019.

Republican primary

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The Republican primary was held on Tuesday August 15, 2017. Only registered Republicans living in the 3rd congressional district were able vote in the primary, though unaffiliated voters were allowed to affiliate as Republicans at polling locations on election day.[4]

Candidates

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Fifteen candidates declared their candidacy for the Republican party nomination. While four candidates declared their intent to gather signatures, only two submitted signatures for verification by the required deadline. This election was the first time in Utah politics where three candidates were on the primary ballot since two candidates submitted enough signatures to qualify for the primary ballot and the party nominated a third candidate at its convention.[3][4]

Nominated

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Eliminated in primary

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Ainge and Curtis submitted enough signatures to qualify for spots on the primary ballot. Curtis also participated in the convention process, but lost to Herrod who was nominated at the convention. Curtis would go on to win the primary.

Lost at convention

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Withdrawn before convention

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  • Jeremy Lewis Friedbaum[3]
  • Mike Leavitt, not to be confused with former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt[3]

Failed to qualify for primary via signature gathering process

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  • Brigham Rhead Cottam[3]

Convention results

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Republican Convention
Candidate First ballot Pct. Second ballot Pct. Third ballot Pct. Fourth ballot Pct. Fifth ballot Pct.
Christopher Herrod 200 25.64% 238 31.23% 264 34.87% 337 44.81% 415 55.11%
Deidre Henderson 202 25.90% 225 29.53% 271 35.80% 301 40.03% 338 44.89%
Margaret Dayton 145 18.59% 140 18.37% 113 14.93% 68 9.04% Eliminated
Stewart Peay 74 9.49% 47 6.17% 45 5.94% 27 3.59% Eliminated
John Curtis 71 9.10% 52 6.82% 35 4.62% 19 2.53% Eliminated
Damian Kidd 48 6.15% 39 5.12% 29 3.83% Eliminated
Brad Daw 19 2.44% 12 1.57% Eliminated
Paul Fife 15 1.92% 9 1.18% Eliminated
Debbie Aldrich 4 0.51% Eliminated
Shayne Row 2 0.26% Eliminated
Keith Kuder 0 0.00% Eliminated

Endorsements

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Tanner Ainge

Utah State Senators

Utah State Representatives

Other Endorsements

Chris Herrod

U.S. Senators

Organizations

Individuals

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin of
error 		John Curtis (R) Chris Herrod (R) Tanner Ainge (R) Undecided
Dan Jones & Associates[16] June 23 – July 5, 2017 199 4.9% 27% 9% 7% 57%

Primary results

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Results by county:
Curtis
  •   Curtis—30–40%
  •   Curtis—40–50%
Herrod
  •   Herrod—30–40%
  •   Herrod—40–50%
  •   Herrod—60–70%
Ainge
  •   Ainge—30–40%
Utah's 3rd congressional district special election Republican primary (2017)[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Curtis 31,481 43.28%
Republican Chris Herrod 23,686 32.57%
Republican Tanner Ainge 17,565 24.15%
Total votes 72,732 100.00%

Democratic Party

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Four candidates declared their candidacy for the Democratic party nomination. Two candidates declared their intent to gather signatures but neither submitted signatures for verification prior to the required deadline.[3] On June 17, 2017, the Democratic Party formally nominated Kathie Allen as their candidate, eliminating the need for a primary election.[18]

Candidates

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Nominated

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  • Kathie Allen, physician[3]

Lost at convention

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  • Carl Ingwell, biologist[3]
  • Ben Frank, activist[3]

Withdrawn before convention

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  • Faeiza Javed[3]

Convention results

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Democratic Convention
Candidate First ballot Pct.
Kathie Allen 76%
Carl Ingwell
Ben Frank

Third-party and independent candidates

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United Utah Party

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The newly formed United Utah Party submitted the required number of signatures to be recognized as a political party in Utah on May 25, one day before the candidate filing deadline. Jim Bennett, the party's executive director, filed to run as its nominee but was rejected because the state had not yet processed the submitted signatures.[19]

The party took the issue to court, and a federal judge found that Utah had illegally violated Bennett's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by denying him a spot on the ballot. The state elections office immediately complied with the court order and declined to appeal the decision. Jim Bennett was placed on the general election ballot as the United Utah Party candidate.[20]

Nominee

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  • Jim Bennett, executive director of the United Utah Party and son of former U.S. Senator Bob Bennett[19]

Independent American Party

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Candidates

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Two candidates declared their intent to seek the nomination of the Independent American Party.

Nominated
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  • Jason Christensen[3]

Lost at convention

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  • Aaron Heineman[3]

Libertarian Party

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Nominee

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Independents

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Write-in candidates

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  • Brendan Phillips[3]
  • Russell Paul Roesler[3]

General election

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The special general election was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017.

Candidates

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Major

The following candidates qualified to appear in the state-sponsored debates:

Minor

The following third-party or independent candidates qualified for the ballot but didn't poll high enough to currently qualify for the state-sponsored debates:

Debate

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2017 Utah's 3rd congressional district special election debate
No. Date Host Moderator Link Republican Democratic United Utah
Key:
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
John Curtis Kathie Allen Jim Bennett
1 Oct. 20, 2017 Utah Debate Commission David Magleby [22] P P P

Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[23] Solid R July 21, 2017

Endorsements

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John Curtis

U.S. Governors

Utah Mayors

  • Jeff Acerson, Lindon[26]
  • Bert Wilson, Lehi[26]
  • Gary Gygi, Cedar Hills[26]
  • Wilford Clyde, Springville[26]
  • Steve Leifson, Spanish Fork[26]
  • Tom Dolan, Sandy[26]
  • Brian Wall, Mapleton[26]
  • J. H. Hadfield, American Fork[26]
  • Randy Farnworth, Vineyard[26]
  • Mark Thompson, Highland[26]
  • Mike Caldwell, Ogden[26]
  • Jon Pike, St George[26]
  • Mark Jones, Nephi[26]
  • Ted Eyre, Murray[26]
  • Bill Applegarth, Riverton[26]
  • Randy Brailsford, Salem[26]
  • Russell Mangelson, Levan[26]
  • Korry Soper, Manti[26]
  • Lonny Ward, Genola[26]
  • Sheldon Wimmer, Alpine[26]
  • Richard Brunst, Orem[26]
  • Kelvyn Cullimore, Cottonwood Heights[26]

Newspapers

Kathie Allen

Politicians

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin
of error 		Kathie
Allen
(D) 		Jim
Bennett
(UU) 		Joe
Buchman
(L) 		Jason
Christensen
(IA) 		John
Curtis
(R) 		Sean
Whalen
(Ind.) 		Write-ins Other Undecided
Dan Jones & Associates[30] October 9–16, 2017 410 ± 4.8% 19% 9% 3% 2% 46% 0% 0% 3% 17%
Dan Jones & Associates[31] September 14–20, 2017 600 ± 4.0% 16.67% 6.00% – – 54.33% – – – –
Dan Jones & Associates[32] August 30 – September 5, 2017 607 ± 4.0% 19.82% 5.59% 2.78% 0.99% 50.17% 0.99% 0.16% 1.82% 17.69%

Results

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Utah's 3rd congressional district special election, 2017[33]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Curtis 85,751 58.02%
Democratic Kathie Allen 37,801 25.58%
United Utah Jim Bennett 13,747 9.30%
Independent Sean Whalen 4,554 3.08%
Libertarian Joe Buchman 3,644 2.47%
Independent American Jason Christensen 2,286 1.55%
Write-in Brendan Phillips 8 0.01%
Write-in Russell Paul Roesler 5 0.00%
Total votes 147,796 100.00%
Republican hold

By county

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County[34] Curtis
Votes		 Curtis
%		 Allen
Votes		 Allen
%		 Bennett
Votes		 Bennett
%		 Whalen
Votes		 Whalen
%		 Buchman
Votes		 Buchman
%		 Christensen
Votes		 Christensen
%		 Total
Carbon 1,675 47.36% 1,327 37.52% 304 8.59% 114 3.22% 68 1.92% 49 1.39% 3,537
Emery 944 69.16% 228 16.70% 109 7.99% 30 2.20% 22 1.61% 32 2.34% 1,365
Grand 997 32.24% 1,618 52.33% 172 5.56% 209 6.76% 55 1.78% 41 1.33% 3,092
Salt Lake 21,857 43.22% 21,135 41.80% 4,913 9.72% 1,011 2.00% 1,073 2.12% 579 1.14% 50,568
San Juan 1,470 49.07% 1,062 35.45% 180 6.01% 131 4.37% 73 2.44% 80 2.67% 2,996
Utah 55,136 69.33% 10,334 12.99% 7,553 9.50% 2,885 3.63% 2,212 2.78% 1,409 1.77% 79,529
Wasatch 3,660 55.00% 2,074 31.17% 514 7.72% 170 2.55% 140 2.10% 96 1.44% 6,654

References

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  1. ^ a b Tanner, Courtney; Davidson, Lee (May 19, 2017). "Utah sets condensed special election calendar — and it's already started". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Riley Roche, Lisa. "22 candidates crowd into race to replace Chaffetz — so far". Deseret News. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "Congressional Special Election Information".
  4. ^ a b Romboy, Dennis. "GOP 3rd District primary could be a first with more than 2 candidates". Deseret News. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "Provo Mayor John Curtis is jumping in the race for Congress".
  6. ^ DeCosta-Klipa, Nik. "Danny Ainge's son is running for Congress".
  7. ^ Herald, Katie England Daily. "Former Provo state representative, Chris Herrod, joins race for Jason Chaffetz's seat". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e Riley Roche, Lisa (July 21, 2017). "Cruz coming to Utah to campaign for Herrod; Ainge announces state lawmaker support". KSL. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  9. ^ Riley Roche, Lisa (August 3, 2017). "Sarah Palin endorses Tanner Ainge in 3rd Congressional District GOP primary". Deseret News. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  10. ^ "Ted Cruz to visit Utah on Saturday to support Chris Herrod's congressional campaign". The Salt Lake Tribune. July 24, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  11. ^ "Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul endorses Chris Herrod in 3rd District race". KSL. July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  12. ^ "FreedomWorks PAC Endorses Chris Herrod". Freedom Works. June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Chris Herrod for Congress". Senate Conservatives Fund. June 26, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  14. ^ "CLUB PAC-ENDORSED CANDIDATES". Club for Growth. August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  15. ^ "You're Going to Like This Guy: Chris Herrod Looks Like a Good Replacement for Jason Chaffetz". GlennBeck.com. July 25, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  16. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  17. ^ "Utah Election Preliminary Results". State of Utah. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  18. ^ "Utah Democrats nominate Kathie Allen to replace Chaffetz". Daily Herald. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  19. ^ a b Riley Roche, Lisa. "New United Utah Party leader Jim Bennett announces bid for Chaffetz's seat". Deseret News. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  20. ^ Romboy, Dennis (August 2, 2017). "Judge orders state to put United Utah Party candidate on special election ballot". DeseretNews.com. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  21. ^ Roche, Lisa Riley (September 22, 2017). "United Utah Party candidate Jim Bennett qualifies for televised congressional debate". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  22. ^ YouTube
  23. ^ Dave Wasserman (July 21, 2017). "UT-03 Special Election: GOP Primary Heats Up". Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  24. ^ Riley Roche, Lisa (July 25, 2017). "Gov. Gary Herbert endorses Provo Mayor John Curtis in 3rd District race". KSL. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  25. ^ Riley Roche, Lisa. "Mitt Romney endorses John Curtis in 3rd Congressional District race". Deseret News. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v "Endoresements – John Curtis". John Curtis for U.S. Congress. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  27. ^ "Herald editorial: Daily Herald endorses John Curtis for special election primary". Daily Herald. July 30, 2017. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  28. ^ "Tribune Editorial: Curtis for Congress". The Salt Lake Tribune. October 15, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  29. ^ Allen, Kathie (June 29, 2017). "Ciao, Chaffetz!". Kathie Allen for Congress. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  30. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  31. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  32. ^ Dan Jones & Associates
  33. ^ "2017 Third Congressional District Special Election" (PDF). State of Utah. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  34. ^ "Municipal General Election 2017". State of Utah. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
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