# Utah Republican Party

The Utah Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently the dominant party in the state, and has been for almost all of its history. It currently holds Utah's entire congressional delegation, all statewide executive offices, and supermajorities in both state legislative chambers.

## History

The state of Utah politics was reorganized after the 1890 Manifesto led by Wilford Woodruff. The 1890 Manifesto officially ended the traditionally Mormon practice of Polygamy. Many prominent polygamist Mormons were imprisoned, punished and harassed since the 1890 Manifesto prohibited plural marriage. This action granted the Utah Territory statehood in 1896 on the condition that polygamy was banned in the state constitution. The Republican Frank J. Cannon was the first delegate elected to congress by the state of Utah in 1894.
Although Utah was generally considered a Democratic-leaning area (or an area that would lean Democratic) before statehood, the state of Utah rapidly gained overwhelming support for the Republican Party after 1896. Although the Republican Party had been strongly opposed to polygamy since its inception and had played a major part in abolishing polygamy, the Republican U.S. Senator Reed Smoot rose to political power. Smoot led a political alliance of Mormons and non-Mormons that created a strong Republican party in many parts of the state.
The Republican Party is currently dominant in Utah politics: no Democrat has won statewide office since 1996, when Jan Graham was elected attorney general; and when Mia Love replaced Jim Matheson in congress in 2014, Utah's congressional delegation became all-Republican. When Love lost her seat to Ben McAdams in the 2018 election, Democrats regained one of Utah's four seats. After the 2020 election Ben McAdams lost his seat to Burgess Owens and Utah's congressional delegation became all-Republican again.

## Current elected officials

The Utah Republican Party controls all five statewide offices and holds a supermajority in the Utah House of Representatives and the Utah State Senate. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and all four of the state's U.S. House seats.

### Members of Congress
#### U.S. Senate

* Senior U.S. Senator Mike Lee
* Junior U.S. Senator John Curtis

#### U.S. House of Representatives

* UT-1st: Blake Moore
* UT-2nd: Celeste Maloy
* UT-3rd: Mike Kennedy
* UT-4th: Burgess Owens

### Statewide offices

* Governor: Spencer Cox
* Lieutenant Governor: Deidre Henderson
* Attorney General: Derek Brown
* State Treasurer: Marlo Oaks
* State Auditor: Tina Cannon

### State Legislature

* President of the Senate: J. Stuart Adams
** Senate Majority Leader: Evan Vickers
* Speaker of the House: Mike Schultz
** House Majority Leader: Jefferson Moss

## State party organization

| Office | Office-holder |
| Chair | Robert Axson |
| Vice Chair | Kim Coleman |
| Secretary | Stafford Palmieri |
| Treasurer | McKay Newell |
In off-election years the Utah Republican Party holds organizing conventions where state delegate elect a chair, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer. The state party officers are elected for a term of two (2) years.

### Central Committee

The State Central Committee (SCC) has representatives from every county in Utah. Along with the automatic members, each county chair and vice-chair, counties are allocated representative based on the number of voting republicans in that county. These representatives are chosen in elections which take place in the Republican county conventions held in odd-numbered years.

## Election results
### Presidential

Utah Republican Party presidential election results :
| Election | Presidential ticket | Votes | Vote % | Electoral votes | Result |
| 1896 | William McKinley/Garret Hobart | 13,491 | 17.27% | 0 / 3 | Won |
| 1900 | William McKinley/Theodore Roosevelt | 47,139 | 50.65% | 3 / 3 | Won |
| 1904 | Theodore Roosevelt/Charles W. Fairbanks | 62,452 | 61.41% | 3 / 3 | Won |
| 1908 | William Howard Taft/James S. Sherman | 61,165 | 56.23% | 3 / 3 | Won |
| 1912 | William Howard Taft/Nicholas M. Butler | 42,013 | 37.42% | 4 / 4 | Lost |
| 1916 | Charles E. Hughes/Charles W. Fairbanks | 54,137 | 37.82% | 0 / 4 | Lost |
| 1920 | Warren G. Harding/Calvin Coolidge | 81,555 | 55.93% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1924 | Calvin Coolidge/Charles G. Dawes | 77,327 | 49.26% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1928 | Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis | 94,618 | 58.58% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1932 | Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis | 84,795 | 41.05% | 0 / 4 | Lost |
| 1936 | Alf Landon/Frank Knox | 64,555 | 29.79% | 0 / 4 | Lost |
| 1940 | Wendell Willkie/Charles L. McNary | 93,151 | 37.59% | 0 / 4 | Lost |
| 1944 | Thomas E. Dewey/John W. Bricker | 97,891 | 39.42% | 0 / 4 | Lost |
| 1948 | Thomas E. Dewey/Earl Warren | 124,402 | 45.02% | 0 / 4 | Lost |
| 1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon | 194,190 | 58.93% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon | 215,631 | 64.56% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1960 | Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. | 205,361 | 54.81% | 4 / 4 | Lost |
| 1964 | Barry Goldwater/William E. Miller | 180,682 | 45.14% | 0 / 4 | Lost |
| 1968 | Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew | 238,728 | 56.49% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1972 | Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew | 323,643 | 67.64% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1976 | Gerald Ford/Bob Dole | 337,908 | 62.44% | 4 / 4 | Lost |
| 1980 | Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush | 439,687 | 72.77% | 4 / 4 | Won |
| 1984 | Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush | 469,105 | 74.50% | 5 / 5 | Won |
| 1988 | George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle | 428,442 | 66.22% | 5 / 5 | Won |
| 1992 | George H. W. Bush/Dan Quayle | 322,332 | 43.36% | 5 / 5 | Lost |
| 1996 | Bob Dole/Jack Kemp | 361,911 | 54.37% | 5 / 5 | Lost |
| 2000 | George W. Bush/Dick Cheney | 515,096 | 66.83% | 5 / 5 | Won |
| 2004 | George W. Bush/Dick Cheney | 663,742 | 71.54% | 5 / 5 | Won |
| 2008 | John McCain/Sarah Palin | 596,030 | 62.24% | 5 / 5 | Lost |
| 2012 | Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan | 740,600 | 72.62% | 6 / 6 | Lost |
| 2016 | Donald Trump/Mike Pence | 515,231 | 45.54% | 6 / 6 | Won |
| 2020 | Donald Trump/Mike Pence | 865,140 | 58.16% | 6 / 6 | Lost |
| 2024 | Donald Trump/JD Vance | 883,818 | 59.38% | 6 / 6 | Won |

### Gubernatorial

Utah Republican Party gubernatorial election results :
| Election | Gubernatorial candidate/ticket | Votes | Vote % | Result |
| 1895 | Heber Manning Wells | 20,833 | 50.32% | Won Y |
| 1900 | Heber Manning Wells | 40,209 | 51.98% | Won Y |
| 1904 | John Christopher Cutler | 50,837 | 49.97% | Won Y |
| 1908 | William Spry | 52,913 | 47.45% | Won Y |
| 1912 | William Spry | 42,552 | 38.17% | Won Y |
| 1916 | Nephi L. Morris | 59,529 | 41.80% | Lost N |
| 1920 | Charles R. Mabey | 81,550 | 57.59% | Won Y |
| 1924 | Charles R. Mabey | 72,127 | 47.01% | Lost N |
| 1928 | William Henry Wattis | 72,306 | 41.08% | Lost N |
| 1932 | William W. Seegmiller | 85,913 | 41.76% | Lost N |
| 1936 | Ray E. Dillman | 60,118 | 35.41% | Lost N |
| 1940 | Don B. Colton | 117,713 | 47.69% | Lost N |
| 1944 | J. Bracken Lee | 122,851 | 49.79% | Lost N |
| 1948 | J. Bracken Lee | 151,253 | 54.99% | Won Y |
| 1952 | J. Bracken Lee | 180,516 | 55.09% | Won Y |
| 1956 | George Dewey Clyde | 127,164 | 38.20% | Won Y |
| 1960 | George Dewey Clyde | 195,634 | 52.66% | Won Y |
| 1964 | Mitchell Melich | 171,300 | 43.01% | Lost N |
| 1968 | Carl W. Buehner | 131,729 | 31.29% | Lost N |
| 1972 | Nicholas L. Strike | 144,449 | 30.31% | Lost N |
| 1976 | Vernon B. Romney | 248,027 | 45.96% | Lost N |
| 1980 | Bob Wright | 266,578 | 44.43% | Lost N |
| 1984 | Norman H. Bangerter | 351,792 | 55.87% | Won Y |
| 1988 | Norman H. Bangerter | 260,462 | 40.13% | Won Y |
| 1992 | Mike Leavitt/Olene Walker | 321,713 | 42.19% | Won Y |
| 1996 | Mike Leavitt/Olene Walker | 503,693 | 74.97% | Won Y |
| 2000 | Mike Leavitt/Olene Walker | 424,837 | 55.77% | Won Y |
| 2004 | Jon Huntsman Jr./Gary Herbert | 531,190 | 57.74% | Won Y |
| 2008 | Jon Huntsman Jr./Gary Herbert | 735,049 | 77.63% | Won Y |
| 2010 (special) | Gary Herbert/Greg Bell | 412,151 | 64.07% | Won Y |
| 2012 | Gary Herbert/Greg Bell | 688,592 | 68.41% | Won Y |
| 2016 | Gary Herbert/Spencer Cox | 750,850 | 66.74% | Won Y |
| 2020 | Spencer Cox/Deidre Henderson | 918,754 | 62.98% | Won Y |
| 2024 | Spencer Cox/Deidre Henderson | 781,431 | 52.89% | Won Y |

## Right of Association Legal Appeal

The State Central Committee (SCC) is the governing body of the party. In 2014 the state legislature passed SB54 which created a pathway by which candidates from all parties in Utah could bypass the nominating conventions and qualify directly for the primary ballot by collecting a required number of signatures.
SB54 forced the parties in Utah to have open primaries, among other demands. The SCC directed its party chairman, James Evans, to file a lawsuit, which sought, among other things, to overturn the use of open primaries. The Utah Republican Party prevailed on this point, which required the state elections office to defer to the Utah Republican Party as to whether the primary would be open or closed and whether unaffiliated voters would be eligible to sign ballot-access petitions for Republican candidates.
The party filed two more lawsuits to try to overturn SB54's signature path to the ballot, but lost those cases. They appealed to the 10th Circuit Court which upheld the lower courts ruling and a subsequent appeal to the US Supreme Court was denied.

### State Party Caucuses

Party Caucuses are held every two years in Utah.

## County party organizations

Each of Utah's 29 counties has a party organization, which operates within that county and sends delegates to the State Central Committee.
| County Party | Website |
| Cache | http://cachegop.com/ |
| Davis | http://www.davisgop.org/ |
| Morgan | http://www.morganutahgop.org/ |
| Salt Lake | http://www.slcogop.com |
| Sanpete | http://www.sanpetecountyrepublicans.com |
| Summit | http://www.summitcountygop.org |
| Utah | http://ucrp.org |
| Weber | http://www.wcrgop.org |