A general election was held in the

U.S. State In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

on November 4, 2014. The state's four seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

are up for election and there was a special election for Utah's attorney general.

Primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s were held on June 24, 2014.

Attorney general special election

Background

Republican

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

John Swallow resigned in December 2013, less than a year into his first term, following multiple investigations into alleged bribery and campaign finance violations.

Appointment

Pursuant to Utah law,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert w ...

was required to pick a replacement from three names chosen by the Utah Republican Party Central Committee. Nine Republican candidates put their names forward for consideration. They were: * Scott Burns, former Iron County attorney, former deputy director for State and Local Affairs at the

ONDCP The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is a component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The director of the ONDCP, colloquially known as the drug czar, heads the office. "Drug czar" was a term first used ...

and nominee for attorney general in 1992 and 1996 * Michelle Mumford, an attorney, assistant dean of admissions at the

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

and secretary of the Utah Republican Party * Bret Rawson, a reserve Bountiful policeman and attorney *

Sean Reyes Sean David Reyes (born February 16, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Utah from 2013 to 2025. Appointed to the office by Governor Gary Herbert following the resignation of John Swallow, Reyes w ...

, an attorney who lost to Swallow in the primary in 2012 * Stephen Sorenson, a retired prosecutor and former head of the litigation division of the Attorney General's office * Robert Smith, an attorney and managing director of Brigham Young University's

International Center for Law and Religion Studies The International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), part of the J. Reuben Clark Law School (JRCLS) at Brigham Young University (BYU), was formally founded on January 1, 2000, to promote freedom of religion worldwide and to study the rela ...

* Brian Tarbet, a retired Adjutant General of the

Utah National Guard The Utah National Guard consists of the: * Utah Army National Guard **19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) **65th Field Artillery Brigade **85th WMD CST **97th Troop Command **115th Engineer Group (CBT) **204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade **211 ...

and the Acting Attorney General * Brent Ward, former

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

District of Utah During the American Civil War in the early 1860s, the District of Utah was a subordinate district of the U.S. Army's Department of the Pacific. The district was composed of territorial areas that later became parts of the modern U.S. states of Ida ...

and a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1992 * Michael J. Wilkins, a former justice of the

Utah Supreme Court The Utah Supreme Court is the supreme court of the state of Utah, United States. It has final authority of interpretation of the Utah Constitution. The Utah Supreme Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, an associate chief justice ...

and former chairman of the Utah Independent Ethics Commission. Burns, Sorensen, Tarbet and Wilkins all said they would not run in the special election if chosen. Sorenson withdrew from contention on December 9, 2013, with Ward also withdrawing two days later. A debate was held on December 11 and Reyes, Smith and Tarbet were chosen as the finalists by the Central Committee on December 14. Herbert chose Reyes on December 23, who was sworn in on December 30, 2013.

Special election

A special election was thus be held for the remaining two years of Swallow's term, with the office then up for the regularly-scheduled election in 2016. Reyes was unopposed in the Republican primary. Opposing him in the general election were Democratic rancher and attorney Charles A. Stormont, American Independent Party nominee Leslie Curtis, Constitution Party nominee Gregory Hansen and Libertarian nominee Andrew McCullough, a perennial candidate for office.

Polling

2014 Utah attorney general special election results map by county

United States House of Representatives

Utah's four seats in the

will be up for election in 2014.

References

{{2014 United States elections