The 2018 United States Senate election in Utah took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the

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

to represent the State of

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 ...

, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate,

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to 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 ...

, and various

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. The primaries took place on June 26. Incumbent Republican senator

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senat ...

announced in January 2018 that he would retire and not seek reelection to an eighth term, making this the first open seat U.S. Senate election in Utah since

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and the first in this seat since

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

. The general election was won by

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

, who had been the Republican nominee for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and previously was the 70th

governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

from 2003 to 2007. Romney became only the third person in American history to be elected governor and U.S. senator in different states, and the first former major party presidential nominee to run for a new office since

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Background

Process

Utah's 2018 U.S. Senate candidates had dual routes toward placement on the

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 ...

ballot: (1) eligibility via win or second-place showings at a convention of delegates selected from party local

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

es; and/or (2) eligibility via obtaining sufficient

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

signatures. Taking the traditional route, the top two candidates for the U.S. Senate at any of the party state conventions (to be held in the latter part of April, 2018) would be placed on the June 26 primary election ballot. Also, any candidate who collected 28,000 ballot-access petition signatures would be placed on the primary ballot. If no competitor achieved the above-mentioned alternate access to the primary ballot through collected signatures and a convention winner achieved sixty-percent of delegate votes, this candidate straightaway received his or her party's nomination solely via the older-style caucuses-convention system. Otherwise, a candidate would be nominated through receiving a plurality of votes in the primary election and thereby advance to the November general election. Incumbent

did not seek reelection.

Hatch to retire

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

was reelected to a seventh term in 2012. During his 2012 reelection campaign, he had pledged that if he were elected, it would be his last term. Hatch won his first election in 1976 in part by criticizing the incumbent's 18-year tenure. Hatch initially announced a re-election campaign on March 9, 2017, though he also said at that time that he might withdraw from the race if

decided to run. An August 19–21, 2016 poll conducted by

Public Policy Polling Public Policy Polling (PPP) is an American polling firm affiliated with the Democratic Party. Founded in 2001 by businessman Dean Debnam, the firm is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Debnam died in 2024. Tom Jensen serves as the firm's directo ...

found only 19% of voters wanted Hatch to run in 2018, while 71% wanted him to retire. On October 27, 2017, Hatch reportedly told friends privately that he was going to retire in 2019 and on January 2, 2018, made a public announcement of his plans to retire at the end of his current term in January 2019.

Republican primary

Convention

Candidates

Nominee

, former

, Republican nominee for president of the United States in

, and Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Eliminated in the primary election

* Mike Kennedy, state representative

Eliminated at convention

* Loy Brunson * Alicia Colvin * Stoney Fonua, tax accountant * Chris Forbush, attorney and candidate for the Nevada State Assembly in 2016 * Jeremy Friedbaum * Timothy Adrian Jimenez, engineer * Joshua Lee * Larry Michael Meyers, attorney * Gayle Painter * Samuel Parker

Declined

Rob Bishop Robert William Bishop (born July 13, 1951) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he became the dean of Utah's congressional delegation after the retirement of ...

, U.S. representative *

Jason Chaffetz Jason E. Chaffetz (; born March 26, 1967) is an American retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until his resignation in 2017. He chaired the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2015 until 2017. Ch ...

, former U.S. representative *

John Curtis John Ream Curtis (born May 10, 1960) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Utah. A member of the Republican Party, Curtis served from 2017 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for Utah's 3rd congre ...

, U.S. representative *

, incumbent U.S. senator and

president pro tempore of the United States Senate The president pro tempore of the United States Senate (often shortened to president pro tem) is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate, after the Vice President of the United States, vice president. According to Articl ...

Mia Love Ludmya "Mia" Love (née Bourdeau; December 6, 1975 – March 23, 2025) was an American political commentator and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district from ...

, U.S. representative (endorsed Mitt Romney) * Boyd Matheson, former

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

for

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Lee became Utah's senior senator in 2019, whe ...

Evan McMullin David Evan McMullin (born April 2, 1976) is an American political candidate and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. McMullin ran as an independent in the 2016 United States presidential election and in the 2022 United States Sena ...

, former congressional staffer, former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

agent and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate for

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

(endorsed Mitt Romney)

Endorsements

Results

Primary

Debates

Polling

with Orrin Hatch

Endorsements

Debates

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake County councilwoman and candidate for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

in 2007

Eliminated at convention

* Mitchell Kent Vice, businessman

Withdrew

* Danny Drew, director of adult education for the

Duchesne County Duchesne County ( ) is a county in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 19,596. Its county seat is Duchesne, and the largest city is Roosevelt. History Much of Duchesne County ...

School District * James Singer, Salt Lake Community College, Westminster College adjunct professor, candidate For UT-03

Declined

Ben McAdams Benjamin Michael McAdams (born December 5, 1974) is an American politician and attorney who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from Utah's 4th congressional district from 2019 to 2021. During that time, he w ...

, mayor of Salt Lake County (running for UT-04)

Endorsements

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Declared

* Craig Bowden, veteran and businessman

Constitution Party

Candidates

Declared

* Tim Aalders

Independent American Party

Candidates

Declared

* Reed McCandless

General election

Candidates

* Ryan Daniel Jackson (I, write-in) * Abe Korb (I, write-in) * Caleb Dan Reeve (I, write-in)

Debates

Predictions

^Highest rating given

Endorsements

Polling

Graphical summary

Notes

with Mike Kennedy
with Orrin Hatch
with Chris Stewart
with Matt Holland

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Grand (largest municipality:

Moab Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...

)

By congressional district

Romney won all four congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Candidates
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign finance
at FEC
Campaign finance
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

Official campaign websites
Tim Aalders (C) for SenateCraig Bowden (L) for Senate

Reed C. McCandless (IAP) for Senate

Caleb Reeve (I) for Senate (Write-in)Mitt Romney (R) for SenateJenny Wilson (D) for Senate
{{Portal bar, Utah, Politics

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Mitt Romney