2020 Utah elections

2020 Utah State Auditor election
	County results; Dougall: 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
Auditor before election; John Dougall; Republican	Elected Auditor ; John Dougall; Republican

Utah state elections in 2020 were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Aside from its presidential primaries held on March 3, its primary elections were held on June 30, 2020.^[1]

In addition to the U.S. presidential race, Utah voters elected the Governor of Utah, 9 seats of its Board of Education, four of Utah's other executive officers, all of its seats to the House of Representatives, all of the seats of the Utah House of Representatives, and 15 of 29 seats in the Utah State Senate. Neither of the state's two U.S. Senate seats were up for election. Seven ballot measures were voted on.^[1]

Federal offices

President of the United States

Utah, a stronghold for the Republican Party and thus a reliable "red state", has six electoral votes in the Electoral College. Donald Trump won with 58.13% of the vote to Joe Biden's 37.65%. On December 14, 2020, Utah cast its electoral votes for Donald Trump.

United States House of Representatives

All four of Utah's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election. The Republican Party candidates won all four seats, with the party gaining the 4th congressional district seat from the Democratic Party.

Governor

Incumbent lieutenant governor Spencer Cox ran against University of Utah law professor and former CFPB official Christopher Peterson. Cox was elected to be Governor of Utah. He was elected with 64.3% of the vote.

Attorney general

Incumbent Republican attorney general Sean Reyes was elected for a third term with 60.6% of the vote in the general election. In the Republican primary, he faced challenger David O. Leavitt (Utah County attorney) after former attorney general John Swallow withdrew from the race.^[2]

In the Democratic primary, attorney and ex-small claims court judge Greg Skordas, who was the Democratic nominee for the attorney general election in 2004, ran unopposed (following the withdrawal of Kevin Probasco). Rudy Bautista ran as a Libertarian.^[2]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Sean Reyes, incumbent

Eliminated in the primary

David Leavitt

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	David Leavitt	Sean Reyes	John Swallow	Undecided
Suffolk University/Salt Lake Tribune	June 4–7, 2020	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	26%	30.8%	–	43.2%
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News [1]	May 9–15, 2020	581 (LV)^[b]	–	40%	60%	–	–
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News [2]	March 21–30, 2020	704 (LV)^[c]	–	32%	54%	15%	–

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sean Reyes (incumbent)	275,207	54.0%
	Republican	David Leavitt	234,027	46.0%
Total votes			509,234	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Greg Skordas

Eliminated at the convention

Kevin Probasco

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Kevin Probasco	Greg Skordas
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News	March 21–30, 2020	223 (LV)	± 6.6%	28%	72%

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Sean Reyes (R)	Greg Skordas (D)	Other	Undecided
Lighthouse Research/Salt Lake Tribune [3]	August 31–September 12, 2020	2,000 (RV)	± 4.38%	46%	25%	5%^[d]	23%

Results

2020 Utah Attorney General election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sean Reyes (incumbent)	878,853	60.58%
	Democratic	Greg Skordas	489,500	33.74%
	Libertarian	Rudy Bautista	82,444	5.68%
Total votes			1,450,797	100.00%

Auditor

2020 Utah Auditor election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Dougall (incumbent)	1,000,846	74.78%
	United Utah	Brian Fabbi	173,644	12.97%
	Constitution	Jeffrey Ostler	163,872	12.24%
Total votes			1,338,362	100.00%

Treasurer

2020 Utah Treasurer election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Damschen (incumbent)	994,115	74.57%
	Libertarian	Joseph Speciale	198,549	14.89%
	Independent American	Richard Proctor	140,466	10.54%
Total votes			1,333,130	100.00%

State Board of Education

District 3

Republican convention

State Republican convention results (first round)^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Hymas	99	70.2%
	Republican	Laurieann Thorpe (incumbent)	42	29.8%
Total votes			141	100.0%

Results

State Board of Education, District 3^[5]^: 30
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Hymas	43,331	59.5%
	Democratic	Brett Garner	29,533	40.5%
Total votes			72,864	100.0%

District 4

Republican convention

State Republican convention results (first round)^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brent Strate	124	53.4%
	Republican	K'Leena Furniss	108	46.6%
Total votes			232	100.0%

Results

State Board of Education, District 4^[5]^: 30
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brent Strate	76,774	100.0%
Total votes			76,774	100.0%

District 7

Results

State Board of Education, District 7^[5]^: 30
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carol Barlow Lear (incumbent)	80,993	100.0%
Total votes			80,993	100.0%

District 8

Results

State Board of Education, District 8^[5]^: 32
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Janet Cannon (incumbent)	72,201	100.0%
Total votes			72,201	100.0%

District 10

Republican nomination

Convention

Republican convention results^[4]
Candidate	Round 1		Round 2
Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%
David Linford		%		%
Molly Hart		%		%
Jeffrey Ferlo		%	Eliminated
Inactive ballots	0 ballots		0 ballots

Primary

Republican primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Molly Hart	22,101	67.3%
	Republican	David Linford	10,741	32.7%
Total votes			32,842	100.0%

Results

State Board of Education, District 10^[5]^: 32
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Molly Hart	81,974	100.0%
Total votes			72,201	100.0%

District 11

Republican convention

State Republican convention results (first round)^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Natalie Cline	162	64.8%
	Republican	Mike Haynes (incumbent)	88	35.2%
Total votes			250	100.0%

Results

State Board of Education, District 11^[5]^: 30
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Natalie Cline	80,720	69.0%
	Independent	Tony Zani	36,232	31.0%
Total votes			116,952	100.0%

District 12

Republican convention

Republican convention results^[4]^[6]
Candidate	Round 1 & 2		Round 3
Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%
James Moss	171	56.2%	210	71.7%
Lorri-Sue Blunt	71	23.4%	83	28.3%
Joe Rivest	62	20.4%	Eliminated
Inactive ballots	0 ballots		11 ballots

Results

State Board of Education, District 12^[5]^: 30
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James Moss Jr.	69,864	76.4%
	Constitution	Catherine Rebekah Taylor	21,625	23.6%
Total votes			91,489	100.0%

District 13

Republican nomination

Convention

Republican convention results^[4]
Candidate	Round 1		Round 2
Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%
Randy Boothe		%		%
Alyson Williams		%		%
Jeff Rust		%	Eliminated
Inactive ballots	0 ballots		0 ballots

Primary

Republican primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy Boothe	14,094	52.1%
	Republican	Alyson Williams	12,978	47.9%
Total votes			27,072	100.0%

Results

State Board of Education, District 13^[5]^: 32
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy Boothe	65,414	100.0%
Total votes			65,414	100.0%

District 15

Republican nomination

Convention

Republican convention results^[4]
Candidate	Round 1		Round 2
Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%
Scott F. Smith	140	45.6%	161	53.8%
Kristan Norton	112	36.5%	138	46.2%
Dale M Brinkerhoff	55	17.9%	Eliminated
Inactive ballots	0 ballots		8 ballots

Primary

Republican primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kristan Norton	27,351	61.2%
	Republican	Scott Smith	17,368	38.8%
Total votes			27,072	100.0%

Results

State Board of Education, District 15^[5]^: 30
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kristan Norton	95,227	100.0%
Total votes			95,227	100.0%

State legislature

All 75 seats of the Utah House of Representatives and 15 of 29 seats of the Utah State Senate were up for election. Before the election the composition of the Utah State Legislature was:

State senate

Party		# of seats
	Republican	23
	Democratic	6
Total		29

House of Representatives

Party		# of seats
	Republican	59
	Democratic	16
Total		75

After the election, the composition was:

State senate

Party		# of seats
	Republican	23
	Democratic	6
Total		29

House of Representatives

Party		# of seats
	Republican	58
	Democratic	17
Total		75

State Judiciary

Utah Supreme Court

Retain Judge John A. Pearce for 10 more years
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,025,585	81.5
No	232,407	18.5
Total votes	1,257,992	100.00
Source: Ballotpedia

Utah Court of Appeals

Retain Judge Michele Christiansen for 6 more years
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,023,082	82.4
No	218,804	17.6
Total votes	1,257,992	100.00
Source: Ballotpedia

Retain Judge Diana Hagen for 6 more years
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,038,612	83.1
No	211,810	16.9
Total votes	1,250,422	100.00
Source: Ballotpedia

Retain Judge Ryan M. Harris for 6 more years
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	925,080	75.0
No	308,015	25.0
Total votes	1,233,095	100.00
Source: Ballotpedia

Retain Judge David Mortensen for 6 more years
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	967,500	77.7
No	277,924	22.3
Total votes	1,245,424	100.00
Source: Ballotpedia

Retain Judge Gregory Orme for 6 more years
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	994,542	80.0
No	248,153	20.0
Total votes	1,242,695	100.00
Source: Ballotpedia

Retain Judge Jill Pohlman for 6 more years
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,036,007	83.1
No	210,290	16.9
Total votes	1,246,297	100.00
Source: Ballotpedia

Ballot measures

Measure SJR 9 is a state constitutional amendment to allow income tax to fund programs for children and people with disabilities.^[7]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	For SJR 9	Against SJR 9	Undecided
Y2 Analytics/UtahPolicy/KUTV 2 News	March 21–30, 2020	1,260 (LV)	± 2.8%	46%	35%	19%

Amendment A

Update Gender Terminology
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	828,629	57.69
No	607,829	42.31
Total votes	1,436,458	100.00
Source: Associated Press^[3]

Amendment B

November 3, 2020

Lawmaker Eligibility Timing

Yes

80–90%

70–80%

Lawmaker Eligibility Timing
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,114,795	80.10
No	276,897	19.90
Total votes	1,391,692	100.00
Source: Associated Press^[3]

Amendment C

November 3, 2020

Remove Slavery Exception

Yes

80–90%

70–80%

60–70%

Remove Slavery Exception
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,138,974	80.48
No	276,171	19.52
Total votes	1,415,145	100.00
Source: Associated Press^[3]

Amendment D

November 3, 2020

Revise Local Water Rights

Yes

60–70%

50–60%

No

60–70%

50–60%

Revise Local Water Rights
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	827,596	61.14
No	525,985	38.86
Total votes	1,353,581	100.00
Source: Associated Press^[3]

Amendment E

November 3, 2020

Right to Hunt and Fish

Yes

80–90%

70–80%

60–70%

Add Right to Hunt and Fish
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,063,212	74.92
No	355,848	25.08
Total votes	1,419,060	100.00
Source: Associated Press^[3]

Amendment F

November 3, 2020

Legislative Session Dates

Yes

60–70%

50–60%

Legislative Session Dates
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	895,435	66.51
No	450,835	33.49
Total votes	1,346,270	100.00
Source: Associated Press^[3]

Amendment G

November 3, 2020

Expand Income, Prop Tax Uses

Yes

60–70%

50–60%

No

50–60%

Expand Income, Prop Tax Uses
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	764,420	54.09
No	648,840	45.91
Total votes	1,413,260	100.00
Source: Associated Press^[3]

Voting Information

The 2020 election took place against a backdrop of uncertainty. The following data tables highlight voter registration rules, in-person voting procedures, and absentee voting procedures relevant to the November 3, 2020, general election in the state of Utah.

Voter registration in Utah^[8]
Registration URL	Link
Registration status URL	Link
Registration update URL	Link
In-person registration deadline	October 23, 2020
Mail registration deadline	October 23, 2020
Mail postmark or receipt deadline	Received
Online registration deadline	October 23, 2020
Same-day registration	Yes
Early voting same-day registration	Yes

In-person voting in Utah^[8]
All voters required to show ID	Yes
ID types	Link
ID source URL	Link
Early voting start date	October 20, 2020
Early voting end date	October 30, 2020
Weekend voting?	Yes
Early voting source URL	Link
Election Day poll times	7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Absentee voting in Utah^[8]
Are there limits on who can request a ballot?	No
Mail request deadline	N/A
Request postmark or receipt deadline	N/A
Mail return deadline	November 2, 2020
Return postmark or receipt deadline	Postmarked
Notary/witness requirements	No requirement

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
^ Including registered Republican likely primary voters and currently unaffiliated likely primary voters
^ Including registered Republican likely primary voters and currently unaffiliated likely primary voters
^ Bautista (L) with 5%; "Other" with no voters

Partisan clients

References

^ ^a ^b "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "UTAH". Politics1. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m "Election Results". Associated Press. November 27, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Convention Results". The Utah Republican Party. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Utah Voting Results" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
^ "State Board of Education - District 12".
^ "Utah Political Trends Panel March 2020" (PDF). Y2 Analytics. March 30, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

External links

Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Utah", Voting & Elections Toolkits
"Utah: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
"League of Women Voters of Utah". (state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Utah at Ballotpedia
"State Elections Legislation Database", Ncsl.org, Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures, State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020

[key-3] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[4] Including registered Republican likely primary voters and currently unaffiliated likely primary voters

[5] Including registered Republican likely primary voters and currently unaffiliated likely primary voters

[6] Bautista (L) with 5%; "Other" with no voters

[ballotutah-1] "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[candidates-2] "UTAH". Politics1. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[results-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m "Election Results". Associated Press. November 27, 2020.

[convention-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Convention Results". The Utah Republican Party. Retrieved December 15, 2020.

[results1-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Utah Voting Results" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.

[10] "State Board of Education - District 12".

[11] "Utah Political Trends Panel March 2020" (PDF). Y2 Analytics. March 30, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.

[pedia-12] "Utah elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 30, 2021.

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