# 2010 United States Senate election in Utah

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The 2010 United States Senate election in Utah took place on November 2, 2010, along with other midterm elections throughout the United States. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bob Bennett was seeking re-election to a fourth term, but lost renomination at the Republican Party's state convention. Mike Lee proceeded to win the Republican primary against Tim Bridgewater and the general election against Democrat Sam Granato. As of 2025, this is the most recent U.S. Senate election in which a political party held the seat after denying renomination to the incumbent senator.

## Process

The filing period for candidates began March 12, 2010 and ended March 19, 2010. Candidates who had not filed by that date cannot appear on the ballot in November. Eleven candidates filed with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
Both the Utah State Democratic Party and the Utah State Republican Party held statewide caucus meetings on March 23, 2010. Caucus meetings are grouped by legislative district and divided by precincts with each precinct electing delegates who attend their respective party's state nominating convention.
The Utah State Democratic and Republican Parties held their conventions on May 8, 2010. At the Republican convention, incumbent Senator Bob Bennett finished third in balloting among delegates and was eliminated from the race. Business owner Tim Bridgewater finished first and attorney Mike Lee finished second, but Bridgewater did not receive enough votes (he needed at least 60 percent) to avoid a primary election runoff against Lee. At the Democratic convention, delegates nominated businessman Sam Granato, who received 77.5 percent of the vote.
In the Republican primary election, held on June 22, 2010, Lee became the Republican nominee by winning 51 percent of the vote against Bridgewater's 49 percent.
The general election was held on November 2, 2010. Lee won the election with 62 percent of the vote to Granato's 33 percent and 6 percent for Constitution Party candidate Scott Bradley.

## Republican nomination
### Convention
#### Candidates

On Ballot
* Bob Bennett, incumbent U.S. Senator
* Tim Bridgewater, businessman and candidate for UT-02 in 2002 and 2004
* David Chiu
* Merrill Cook, former U.S. Representative
* Cherilyn Eagar, businesswoman
* Leonard Fabiano
* Jeremy Friedbaum
* Mike Lee, attorney
Withdrew
* Mark Shurtleff State Attorney General

#### Endorsements

The following are endorsements made before the convention
Bennett
* U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah
* Former U.S. Senator Jake Garn of Utah
* Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia
* Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts
Lee
* Former Governor Norm Bangerter of Utah
* Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
* State Senator Curt Bramble
* State Senator Allen Christensen
* State Senator Mark Madsen
* State Representative John Dougall
* State Representative Craig Frank
* State Representative Francis Gibson
* State Representative Kerry Gibson
* State Representative Todd Kiser
* State Representative Mike Morley
* State Representative Curt Oda
* State Representative Ken Sumsion
* Former State Representative John Swallow
* State Representative Ryan Wilcox
* State Representative Carl Wimmer
* Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas
* Former U.S. Congressman James V. Hansen of Utah
* U.S. Congressman Ron Paul of Texas
* Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
* Editor of conservative weblog RedState Erick Erickson
* Prominent conservative author and talk show host Mark Levin
* FreedomWorks PAC
* Most of the 9/12 and Tea Party Groups of Utah

#### Polling

| Poll Source | Dates Administered | Bob Bennett | Tim Bridgewater | Merrill Cook | Cherilyn Eagar | Mike Lee |
| Rasmussen Reports | April 8, 2010 | 14% | 14% | 6% | 4% | 37% |
| Mason Dixon | April 22–25, 2010 | 16% | 20% | 1% | 11% | 37% |

#### Results

State Republican Convention results, 2010 :
| Candidate | First ballot | Pct. | Second ballot | Pct. | Third ballot | Pct. |
| Mike Lee | 982 | 28.75% | 1225 | 35.99% | 1383 | 42.72% |
| Tim Bridgewater | 917 | 26.84% | 1274 | 37.42% | 1854 | 57.28% |
| Bob Bennett | 885 | 25.91% | 905 | 26.99% | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Cherilyn Eagar | 541 | 15.84% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Merrill Cook | 49 | 1.43% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Leonard Fabiano | 22 | 0.64% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Jeremy Friedbaum | 16 | 0.47% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| David Chiu | 4 | 0.12% | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Total | 3,416 | 100.00% | 3,404 | 100.00% | 3,237 | 100.00% |

### Primary
#### Candidates

* Tim Bridgewater, businessman
* Mike Lee, attorney

#### Endorsements

Bridgewater
* Incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Bennett
* Former Chairman of RNC Dick Richards
* State Senator Howard A. Stephenson
* State Senator Jerry Stevenson
* State Senator David Hinkins
* State Representative Greg Hughes
* State Representative Lorie Fowlke
* State Representative Julie Fisher
* State Representative Merlynn Newbold
* Clearfield: Don Wood
* Coalville: Duane Schmidt
* Draper: Darrel Smith
* Fruit Heights: Todd Stevenson
* Farmington: Scott Harbertson
* Harrisville: Richard Hendrix
* Kaysville: Steve Hiatt
* Pleasant Grove: Bruce Call
* Pleasant View: Doug Clifford
* Provo: John Curtis
* Riverdale: J. Bruce Burrows
* Roy: Joe Ritchie
* Sandy: Tom Dolan
* Saratoga Springs: Mia Love
* St. George: Daniel McArthur
* South Weber: M. Jeffery Monroe
* Taylorsville: Russ Wall
* West Jordan: Melissa Johnson
Lee
* U.S. Senator Jim DeMint
* Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
* Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas
* Former U.S. Congressman James V. Hansen of Utah
* U.S. Congressman Ron Paul of Texas
* Editor of conservative weblog RedState Erick Erickson
* Prominent conservative author and talk show host Mark Levin
* FreedomWorks PAC
* Republican Liberty Caucus
* Former Governor Norm Bangerter of Utah
* Attorney General Mark Shurtleff
* State Senator Curt Bramble
* State Senator Allen Christensen
* State Senator Mark Madsen
* State Representative John Dougall
* State Representative Francis Gibson
* State Representative Kerry Gibson
* State Representative Craig Frank
* State Representative Ken Sumsion
* State Representative Todd Kiser
* State Representative Mike Morley
* State Representative Curt Oda
* State Representative Ryan Wilcox
* State Representative Carl Wimmer
* Former State Representative John Swallow
* Most of the 9/12 and Tea Party Groups of Utah

#### Polling

| Poll Source | Dates Administered | Tim Bridgewater | Mike Lee |
| Wilson Research | June 10, 2010 | 30% | 39% |
| Deseret News/KSL-TV | June 12–17, 2010 | 42% | 33% |

#### Results

State Republican Primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Mike Lee | 98,512 | 51.2% |
| | Republican | Tim Bridgewater | 93,905 | 48.8% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 192,417 | 100.0% |

## Democratic nomination
### Candidates

* Sam Granato, businessman
* Christopher Stout, accountant

### Results

State Democratic Convention results (first round) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sam Granato | 77 | 77% |
| | Democratic | Christopher Stout | 23 | 23% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 100 | 100.0% |

## General election
### Candidates

* Scott Bradley (C), businessman
* Sam Granato (D), businessman
* Mike Lee (R), attorney

### Campaign

Granato emphasized his opposition to nuclear weapon tests in neighboring Nevada. In addition, he criticized Lee for his support of raising the retirement age and for questioning the constitutionality of Social Security.

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Cook Political Report | Solid R | October 26, 2010 |
| Rothenberg | Safe R | October 22, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | October 21, 2010 |
| CQ Politics | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Sam Granato (D) | Mike Lee (R) | Other | Undecided |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 23, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 28% | 58% | 5% | 9% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 23, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 29% | 54% | 5% | 12% |
| Rasmussen Reports | October 13, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 28% | 61% | 4% | 8% |
| Deseret News/KSL-TV | October 11–14, 2010 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 31% | 53% | 1% | 11% |
| Mason-Dixon | October 27, 2010 | 625 | ± 4.0% | 32% | 48% | 5% | 15% |
| Deseret News/KSL-TV | October 25–28, 2010 | 1,206 | ± 3.0% | 30% | 57% | 6% | 7% |

### Fundraising

| Candidate (Party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash On Hand | Debt |
| Mike Lee (R) | $1,595,383 | $1,423,494 | $165,314 | $57,691 |
| Sam Granato (D) | $250,607 | $219,776 | $30,831 | $15,000 |
| Source: Federal Election Commission |||||

### Results

United States Senate election in Utah, 2010 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Mike Lee | 390,179 | 61.56% | −7.18% |
| | Democratic | Sam Granato | 207,685 | 32.77% | +4.37% |
| | Constitution | Scott Bradley | 35,937 | 5.67% | +3.78% |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 182,494 | 28.79% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 633,801 | 100.00% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Swing | | |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Summit (largest municipality: Park City)