# 2017 Utah's 3rd congressional district special election

"none" is preferred when the title is already sufficiently detailed; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
Elections in Utah :
Federal government
Presidential elections
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
1896
1897
1899
1901 sp
1903
1905
1908
1909
1911
1914
1916
1920
1922
1926
1928
1932
1934
1938
1940
1944
1946
1950
1952
1956
1958
1962
1964
1968
1970
1974
1976
1980
1982
1986
1988
1992
1994
1998
2000
2004
2006
2010
2012
2016
2018
2022
2024
2028
U.S. House of Representatives elections
1895
1896
1898
1900
AL sp
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
2nd sp
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2017
3rd sp
2018
2020
2022
2023
2nd sp
2024 :
State government
General elections
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1895
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2010 sp
2012
2016
2020
2024
Attorney General elections
1996
2020
2024
Auditor elections
2024
State Senate elections
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
House of Representatives elections
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
2004
Amendment 3
2018
Proposition 4
2020
Amendment A :
Salt Lake City
Mayoral elections
1999
2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
Salt Lake County
Mayoral elections
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024 :
vte :
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. 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.
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.
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.
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

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.

### Candidates

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.

#### Nominated

* John Curtis, Mayor of Provo

#### Eliminated in primary

* Tanner Ainge, son of Danny Ainge
* Chris Herrod, real estate developer, former state representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012
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

* Debbie Aldrich
* Brad Daw, state representative
* Margaret Dayton, state senator
* Paul David Fife
* Deidre Henderson, state senator
* Damian Kidd, attorney
* Keith Kuder
* Stewart Peay, attorney
* Shayne Horton Row

#### Withdrawn before convention

* Jeremy Lewis Friedbaum
* Mike Leavitt, not to be confused with former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt

#### Failed to qualify for primary via signature gathering process

* Brigham Rhead Cottam

### Convention results

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 | Eliminated |
| Stewart Peay | 74 | 9.49% | 47 | 6.17% | 45 | 5.94% | 27 | 3.59% | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| John Curtis | 71 | 9.10% | 52 | 6.82% | 35 | 4.62% | 19 | 2.53% | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Damian Kidd | 48 | 6.15% | 39 | 5.12% | 29 | 3.83% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Brad Daw | 19 | 2.44% | 12 | 1.57% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Paul Fife | 15 | 1.92% | 9 | 1.18% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Debbie Aldrich | 4 | 0.51% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Shayne Row | 2 | 0.26% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Keith Kuder | 0 | 0.00% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |

### Endorsements

Utah State Senators
* Jake Anderegg, Lehi
* Dan Hemmert, Orem
Utah State Representatives
* Marc Roberts, Salem
* Norm Thurston, Provo
* Tim Quinn, Heber
Other Endorsements
* Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska
U.S. Senators
* Ted Cruz, Texas
* Rand Paul, Kentucky
Organizations
* Freedom Works
* Senate Conservatives Fund
* Club for Growth
Individuals
* Glenn Beck

### Polling

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

### Primary results

Utah's 3rd congressional district special election Republican primary (2017) :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 72,732 | 100.00% |

## Democratic Party

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. On June 17, 2017, the Democratic Party formally nominated Kathie Allen as their candidate, eliminating the need for a primary election.

### Candidates
#### Nominated

* Kathie Allen, physician

#### Lost at convention

* Carl Ingwell, biologist
* Ben Frank, activist

#### Withdrawn before convention

* Faeiza Javed

### Convention results

Democratic Convention :
| Candidate | Pct. |
| Kathie Allen | 76% |
| Carl Ingwell | |
| Ben Frank | |

## Third-party and independent candidates
### United Utah Party

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.
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.

#### Nominee

* Jim Bennett, executive director of the United Utah Party and son of former U.S. Senator Bob Bennett

### Independent American Party
#### Candidates

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

##### Nominated

* Jason Christensen

#### Lost at convention

* Aaron Heineman

### Libertarian Party
#### Nominee

* Joe Buchman

### Independents

* Sean Whalen

### Write-in candidates

* Brendan Phillips
* Russell Paul Roesler

## General election

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

### Candidates

Major
The following candidates qualified to appear in the state-sponsored debates:
* John Curtis (Republican), Mayor of Provo
* Kathie Allen (Democratic), physician
* Jim Bennett (United Utah), son of former U.S. Senator Bob Bennett, grandson of former U.S. Senator Wallace F. Bennett. Bennett is the first third-party candidate in history to cross the threshold to appear in the official debate commission debate.
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:
* Joe Buchman (Libertarian)
* Jason Christensen (Independent American)
* Sean Whalen (Independent)

### Debate

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 | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | | | |
| Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | Key: P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited W Withdrawn | 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 | | P | P | P |

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Solid R | July 21, 2017 |

### Endorsements

U.S. Governors
* Gary Herbert, Governor of Utah
* Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican nominee for President of the United States
Utah Mayors
* Jeff Acerson, Lindon
* Bert Wilson, Lehi
* Gary Gygi, Cedar Hills
* Wilford Clyde, Springville
* Steve Leifson, Spanish Fork
* Tom Dolan, Sandy
* Brian Wall, Mapleton
* J. H. Hadfield, American Fork
* Randy Farnworth, Vineyard
* Mark Thompson, Highland
* Mike Caldwell, Ogden
* Jon Pike, St George
* Mark Jones, Nephi
* Ted Eyre, Murray
* Bill Applegarth, Riverton
* Randy Brailsford, Salem
* Russell Mangelson, Levan
* Korry Soper, Manti
* Lonny Ward, Genola
* Sheldon Wimmer, Alpine
* Richard Brunst, Orem
* Kelvyn Cullimore, Cottonwood Heights
Newspapers
* Daily Herald
* The Salt Lake Tribune
Politicians
* Sam Granato, Salt Lake County Councillor (District 4)

### Polling

| 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 | October 9–16, 2017 | 410 | ± 4.8% | 19% | 9% | 3% | 2% | 46% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 17% |
| Dan Jones & Associates | September 14–20, 2017 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 16.67% | 6.00% | – | – | 54.33% | – | – | – | – |
| Dan Jones & Associates | 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

Utah's 3rd congressional district special election, 2017 :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 147,796 | 100.00% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

### By county

| County!! 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 |