Utah County 2026 General Election Voter Guide

Last updated November 3, 2026 · Nonpartisan summary of public sources

How to use this guide

Every Utah County voter sees the six county races, Amendments A and B, and the judicial retention questions; your U.S. House, state legislative and school board races depend on your precinct. Candidate names and parties below come from the official Utah County sample ballot certified by the County Clerk. To see exactly which races are on your ballot, find your precinct's page in that sample ballot or look up your ballot at vote.utah.gov.

• Platform = the candidate's own stated priorities, summarized.

• For / Against = reasons supporters and critics have given in news coverage, questionnaires and endorsements. They are not this guide's opinion, and no candidate or position is recommended.

• Where coverage of a candidate is thin, the guide says so rather than filling the gap.

Party codes: REP Republican · DEM Democratic · FWD Forward · CON Constitution · IAP Independent American · LIB Libertarian · UNA Unaffiliated.

Your ballot

Your precincts with U.S. House 4, Senate 21, House 54 and School Board 11 (for example 25AF02, 25CH01–08, 25HI05–15) carry these partisan races; each is covered in detail in the sections below.

You also vote yes/no on 13 judges, and some Highland/Alpine precincts add one justice-court judge. Check your own precinct's page in the sample ballot to confirm.

Federal: U.S. House

Utah County is split between the new 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts under the court-ordered map; there is no U.S. Senate race in Utah this year. District 4 is an open seat after Rep. Burgess Owens retired, and Rep. Mike Kennedy moved over from the old 3rd District (Deseret News).

U.S. House District 3

Candidate questionnaire: Salt Lake Tribune, District 3.

U.S. House District 4 (open seat; your ballot)

Candidate questionnaire: Salt Lake Tribune, District 4.

Utah State Senate

Five Senate districts touch Utah County; District 21 is on your ballot. Platforms and stances on Amendments A and B come mostly from the Salt Lake Tribune's candidate questionnaires.

Senate District 21 (your ballot) (Tribune race page)

Senate District 11 (Tribune race page)

Senate District 18 (Tribune race page)

Senate District 19 (Tribune race page)

Senate District 23 (Tribune race page)

Utah House of Representatives

Sixteen House districts touch Utah County; District 54 is on your ballot. Most races pit a Republican incumbent against a lesser-known challenger. The main source is the Salt Lake Tribune's 2026 voter guide; most Republican incumbents did not answer its questionnaire, so their platforms are drawn from campaign announcements and legislative records. For most challengers, no criticism appeared in coverage.

House District 50 (Tribune race page)

House District 51 (Tribune race page)

House District 52 (Tribune race page)

Charlie Tautuaa, who lost the GOP nomination at convention, is a declared write-in focused on anti-corruption and term limits.

House District 53 (Tribune race page)

House District 54 (your ballot) (Tribune race page)

House District 55 (Tribune race page)

House District 56 (Tribune race page)

House District 58 (Tribune race page)

House District 61 (Tribune race page)

House District 62 (Tribune race page)

House District 63 (Tribune race page)

House District 64 (Tribune race page)

House District 66 (Tribune race page)

Unopposed House races

• District 57: Nelson Abbott (REP, incumbent). Fiscal responsibility, tax cuts, school choice and teacher pay; Nancy Lee Peterson is a declared write-in (Tribune).

• District 60: Grant Pace (REP, appointed May 2026). Education accountability, limits on hedge-fund home buying, water conservation, spending control.

• District 65: Doug Welton (REP, incumbent). Nebo teacher backing school choice, all-of-the-above energy, gun rights and tax cuts.

Utah State School Board

District 11 (your ballot) is an open, contested seat; District 14 has one candidate.

State School Board District 11 (your ballot) (Tribune race page)

State School Board District 14

Linda Hanks (REP) is unopposed. She is a Juab County educator with 16 years on a local school board who wants stronger rural representation, more career and technical education and more federal special-education funding (2026 USBE election).

Utah County offices

Every Utah County voter decides six county races; both commission seats are open and the clerk's race follows the incumbent's primary loss (KSL). Several non-Republican candidates got little independent coverage. The Network of Utah Moderates, cited below, is an advocacy group that makes endorsements, so its views are one group's opinion.

County Commission Seat A (Lehi Free Press)

County Commission Seat B (Lehi Free Press)

County Clerk (Lehi Free Press)

County Auditor (American Fork Citizen)

Unopposed

• County Attorney: Jeff Gray (REP, incumbent). No 2026 platform published; in 2022 he pledged to charge what the evidence supports.

• County Sheriff: Mike Smith (REP, incumbent). Former Pleasant Grove police chief. He defended the county's immigration-enforcement reimbursement agreement with Homeland Security, which some residents urged the commission to cancel (KSL).

Constitutional Amendments A and B

Both amendments change rules around the ballot: A changes how proposed amendments are published, and B raises the vote needed for tax-raising citizen initiatives to 60%. B is the contested one, drawing about $3.46 million from opponents versus about $24,000 from supporters through Oct. 27 (Ballotpedia).

Amendment A: publishing proposed amendments

What it does. It drops the constitutional requirement to print proposed amendments in a newspaper in every county for two months, replacing it with 60 days of publication in a manner set by state law. The companion law has the Lieutenant Governor post the full text on the Utah Public Notice Website and the Lieutenant Governor's website. The Legislature passed it unanimously (House 70–0, Senate 29–0) (Ballotpedia). It follows the 2024 Amendment D, which courts voided partly because newspaper publication requirements weren't met (Utah News Dispatch).

Arguments for (official pamphlet sponsors and backers):

• Most voters no longer read print newspapers, so online posting reaches more people while keeping the advance-notice rule.

• It saves money; estimates range from about $800,000 to $1.4 million per election cycle (FOX 13).

• Citizen initiatives must now meet the same publication rule, so A also cuts costs for initiative sponsors (Tribune).

Arguments against (no official pamphlet argument or organized campaign; concerns raised by commenters and groups such as Alliance for a Better Utah):

• Rural and offline residents may not find or use government websites, and many rural towns still rely on their local paper (KPCW).

• Little-visited government websites would replace a familiar public notice.

• The publication method would move into ordinary law, which the Legislature can change without a public vote.

No public polling on A was found.

Amendment B: 60% vote for tax-raising initiatives

What it does. A statewide citizen initiative would need at least 60% approval, instead of a simple majority, if it creates a tax, expands a tax to new items, raises a tax rate or cuts property taxes less than current law would. Other initiatives and laws passed by the Legislature are unaffected. It passed the Senate 21–8 and the House 55–17, with all yes votes Republican. If approved, it takes effect Nov. 23, 2026, for initiatives voted on after Nov. 1, 2026 (official pamphlet).

Arguments for (pamphlet sponsors Sen. Lincoln Fillmore and Rep. Jason Kyle, Utah Taxpayers Association, Utah GOP, Americans for Prosperity–Utah):

• Tax increases touch everyone, so they should show broad support from the people paying them.

• Lawmakers who raise taxes face voters at the next election; initiative drafters face no such accountability, and a narrow win is costly to undo.

• 60% is achievable, and voters keep both the initiative process and the final say.

• It guards against well-funded, often out-of-state campaigns passing taxes by slim margins, and protects rural areas from urban-driven measures.

Arguments against (pamphlet opponents Sen. Luz Escamilla and Rep. Angela Romero, Better Boundaries, League of Women Voters, ACLU of Utah, Alliance for a Better Utah):

• It weakens a constitutional right Utahns have used for over 125 years and sets a precedent for raising thresholds on other issues (Daily Utah Chronicle).

• It holds voters to a higher bar than legislators, who can raise taxes by simple majority.

• Critics call the tax framing a scare tactic aimed at concentrating power in the Legislature amid its fight over Proposition 4 redistricting (KUER).

• The broad tax language could block measures on issues like health care access, and the change would be hard to undo.

Polling. A September Noble Predictive Insights poll found 50% support and 21% opposed; its late-October poll of likely voters found 34% support and 56% opposed (KUER).

Also on some or all ballots

These items fall outside the federal, state and county races you asked about, so they are listed without candidate analysis.

Judicial retention (every ballot). Yes/no votes on Utah Supreme Court Justice Jill M. Pohlman; Court of Appeals Judges Michele M. Christiansen Forster, David Ned Mortensen, John David Luthy, Ryan M. Harris, Amy Jo Oliver and Gregory Keith Orme; Fourth District Judges Jared William Eldridge, Kraig Powell, Douglas John Nielsen, Thomas Low and Anthony Leonard Howell; and Utah County Justice Court Judge Kelton Shawn Patten. Some precincts also vote on Kelly N. Schaeffer-Bullock (Highland/Alpine Justice Court) or Eric Stephen Jewell (Springville Justice Court). The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission's recommendation for each judge is at judges.utah.gov.

Local school boards (nonpartisan, some precincts).

Salem Proposition #8 (Salem precincts only). Would authorize a 0.1% city sales tax for 10 years (a "RAP tax") to fund recreation, parks, trails, arts and cultural facilities.

Judicial retention: cases for and against

The state's Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) recommends keeping every judge on your ballot; statewide it recommends all 57 judges except one Weber County justice court judge (Salt Lake Tribune). The only organized opposition targets Supreme Court Justice Jill Pohlman. Judges can't campaign, so for most of them there is no public case against beyond voters' own views of their rulings. Each judge needs a majority of yes votes to stay.

The JPEC grades legal ability, temperament and administrative skill using attorney and court-staff surveys and courtroom observers; full reports are at judges.utah.gov. A third-party ballot guide reports each local judge cleared the commission unanimously (12–0, or 13–0 for Judge Jewell) (Ballot Wizzard).

Utah Supreme Court: Justice Jill M. Pohlman

• Case for retaining. JPEC recommends retention. The Utah State Bar urges voters to rely on the commission's full review of a judge's conduct rather than one ruling that angered a party, and says judges must be free to rule without fearing the Legislature or governor (Deseret News).

• Case against. Utah GOP chair Rob Axson urged voters to remove her because she joined the unanimous 2024 ruling that lawmakers can't override the voter-approved redistricting initiative (Prop 4); he says the court ignored the state constitution. Gov. Spencer Cox said he believes the court got that case wrong and called retention votes a legitimate check (Axios).

Court of Appeals, Fourth District and justice courts

For these judges, the case for retaining is the JPEC recommendation; no organized campaign or specific criticism against any of them appeared in coverage. A no vote is mainly a way to register disagreement with a judge's rulings or with the appointment system.

I couldn't open the commission's individual reports here, so survey scores and written comments for each judge are on judges.utah.gov.

Sources

Official

• Utah County official sample ballot, Nov. 3, 2026

• Utah County 2026 general election candidate certification

• 2026 Voter Information Pamphlet: Amendment B

• Utah Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission

Voter guides and coverage

• Salt Lake Tribune 2026 voter guide (candidate questionnaires; race pages linked in each section)

• Deseret News: Utah's 4th District race

• KSL: 4th District debate

• Lehi Free Press: County Auditor and Clerk

• Lehi Free Press: County Commission Seat A

• Lehi Free Press: County Commission Seat B

• KSL: Utah County GOP primary results

• Network of Utah Moderates: Utah County guide (advocacy group; makes endorsements)

• KUER: Amendments A and B explained

• Utah News Dispatch: Amendments A and B

• Ballotpedia: Amendment A · Amendment B

Appendix: The case for and against Mike Kennedy (U.S. House District 4)

The arguments for Kennedy center on his experience, legislative output and alignment with President Trump; the arguments against center on his Iran war votes, his public-lands stance and that same alignment. Most criticism in coverage comes from his Democratic opponent, Jonny Larsen, so it reflects a campaign's framing. This appendix reports both sides; it does not recommend a vote.

Background. Kennedy is a family physician and attorney who served in the Utah Legislature before winning the old 3rd District seat in 2024 with about two-thirds of the vote. After the court-ordered map, he is running in the new 4th District, an open seat (Salt Lake Tribune).

Reasons supporters give for voting for him

• Experience across medicine, law and lawmaking. President Trump endorsed him on June 18, 2026, citing that background (Deseret News).

• Legislative productivity. He reports introducing 36 bills in his first 18 months, six of which passed the House, and is described as among the most productive members of his freshman class (Deseret News interview).

• Energy and gas prices. His License to Drill Act, which speeds oil and gas permitting on federal land, cleared Congress and awaited the president's signature by October; he argues it will help lower fuel costs (Deseret News debate coverage).

• Bipartisan and local projects. He points to a wildfire research institute bill for Utah, geothermal work with Sen. John Curtis, and a patient-history fix to the controlled-substances database.

• Housing and taxes. He cites a housing bill limiting institutional investors' purchases of single-family homes, plus tax cuts on tips and overtime.

• Local control. He says communities, not Washington, should decide on data centers, and that the seven Colorado River states should settle that river's future; he pledged to help secure $1 billion promised for the Great Salt Lake.

• Security and border. He backs Trump's goal of keeping Iran from nuclear weapons and credits the administration's border policy with improving safety (Salt Lake Tribune).

• Spending. His campaign says he has voted against spending bills, and he calls the national debt a serious concern.

• Electability. A September Utah Debate Commission poll showed him at 41.7% to Larsen's 32.9%, with 25.4% for others or undecided.

Reasons critics give for voting against him

• Iran war and war powers. He voted against each nonbinding House resolution urging an end to the Iran war. Larsen says that abandons Congress's constitutional power to declare war and ties high gas prices to the conflict (KSL).

• Selling public land. He backs Sen. Mike Lee's proposal to sell some federal land for housing. Larsen says that risks natural and cultural resources and would cost rural counties federal payments in lieu of taxes.

• Closeness to Trump. At a March 2025 town hall, about 250 constituents pressed him and Rep. Maloy to push back on the administration and DOGE cuts; Kennedy threatened to remove disruptors and was met with chants as he left (KSL).

• Data centers. Larsen and residents who feel unheard want a moratorium on new data centers; Kennedy prefers leaving it to local officials.

• Health care. He blames the Affordable Care Act for high costs and favors price transparency and telehealth over expanding coverage; he also said the surgeon general's office shouldn't exist and backs banning gender-transition procedures for minors, positions opponents of those policies reject.

• Accessibility. He skipped the Salt Lake Tribune's candidate questionnaire (Tribune).

Where he and Larsen agree

Both say families are squeezed by fuel and housing costs, and both said Congress should make the path to citizenship easier.

Appendix: The case for and against Brady Brammer (State Senate District 21)

The case for Brammer rests on his tax-cutting and spending record, road funding and Utah Lake work; the case against centers on his redistricting bill, his support for Amendment B, and his relationship with cities. His general-election opponents, Kandee Myers (DEM) and Wayne Woodfield (FWD), did not criticize him by name in the Tribune questionnaire, so most criticism comes from his primary challenger and from groups that fought him on redistricting. This section reports both sides; it does not recommend a vote.

Background. Brammer is an attorney with a master's in public administration who served six years in the Utah House. Utah County Republican delegates picked him in late 2024 to fill the Senate seat Mike Kennedy vacated when he went to Congress (Daily Herald). The district covers parts of Alpine, Cedar Hills, Pleasant Grove, Lehi and American Fork, and this is his first race for a full Senate term (Salt Lake Tribune).

Reasons supporters give for voting for him

• Tax cuts. He points to tax cuts in each of the past six years, which he says save an average family in his district about $700 a year (his estimate) (Salt Lake Tribune).

• Spending restraint and accountability. He pledges to hold down state spending, limit regulation, strengthen audits and protect public comment.

• Roads and growth. He credits himself with helping secure $1.5 billion in county road funding, wants infrastructure built ahead of development, and supports lowering the water allowed per new home (Lehi Free Press).

• Utah Lake. He sponsored the law creating the Utah Lake Authority, which replaced a commission he said lacked real power, and says the lake is the cleanest it has been in a century.

• Housing and energy. He backs faster permitting and starter homes, and wants Utah to export power from nuclear, geothermal, coal and natural gas.

• Endorsements. Americans for Prosperity–Utah endorsed him, citing judicial reform, expanded school choice and lighter rules on small businesses (AFP).

• Amendments. He supports both A and B, which backers of B see as a guard against narrowly passed tax increases.

Reasons critics give for voting against him

• Redistricting and Proposition 4. In September 2025 he proposed judging congressional map fairness with a single partisan-bias test. Better Boundaries and Democrats said one test is unreliable with four districts and would undercut the voter-approved Prop 4; every public commenter opposed it (KSL). He argues the bill would bring certainty and keep courts out of every dispute.

• Initiative power. Both his general-election opponents oppose Amendment B, which he supports; its opponents say it weakens citizens' ability to make law.

• Relations with cities. Primary challenger Kelly Smith, a Cedar Hills councilwoman, said the state too often hands cities mandates and that he wrote the Utah Lake board's city list into law, leaving American Fork out; she disputes his explanation.

• Utah Lake Authority origins. When the authority was created in 2022, some testifiers and a BYU scientist worried it was rushed and shaped by a controversial proposal to build islands in the lake (Deseret News).

• Education funding. Smith argued that big education budgets can hide thin classroom investment; he counters that funding has doubled since 2015 while inflation rose about 38%.

• Growth issues. Smith warned against recruiting data centers so fast that residents face higher utility bills or water shortages; Myers and Woodfield also campaign on scrutinizing corporate tax breaks and government transparency.

Appendix: The case for and against Kristen Chevrier (State House District 54)

The case for Chevrier rests on her long record as a conservative citizen advocate for medical choice, privacy and parental rights; the case against centers on her health bills and her past leadership of anti-vaccine groups. Her opponent, Kristina Robinson (DEM), did not criticize her by name, and Chevrier skipped the Tribune questionnaire, so much of what follows comes from coverage of her 2025 bills. This section reports both sides; it does not recommend a vote.

Background. Chevrier is a longtime Highland Republican activist and party officer. Utah County GOP delegates chose her in late 2024, over two other candidates, to fill the House seat Brady Brammer left for the Senate, and she took office Jan. 1, 2025; this is her first general election for the seat. She serves on the House Health and Human Services and Transportation committees (Salt Lake Tribune).

Reasons supporters give for voting for her

• Medical choice and patient autonomy. Before office, she lists about 18 bills she worked on as an advocate since 2005, including vaccine exemptions, limits on employer and government vaccine mandates and vaccine passports, and hospital visitor access (campaign site).

• Letting patients choose their blood donors. Her 2025 HB400 would have required hospitals to let patients use their own blood or donors they trust, outside emergencies. She cited families who traveled out of state to arrange directed donations. The House passed it unanimously and the Utah Hospital Association expected to support it (Salt Lake Tribune).

• Healthier food. She sponsored bills to bar candy and soda purchases with SNAP benefits and to remove certain artificial dyes from school food, arguing public food dollars should buy healthy food (KSL).

• Privacy and limited government. Her advocacy record includes genetic privacy protections from employers and insurers, a government data privacy act, and a state sovereignty act.

• Parental rights and homeschooling. She highlights work protecting homeschool families from testing mandates and backs parental control in education.

Reasons critics give for voting against her

• Blood supply and safety. The American Red Cross said HB400 would divert resources and carries higher infection risk because friends and family may not fully disclose health histories; a hospital transfusion specialist warned it would strain the system (KSL). The FDA and blood-bank groups have said directed donations chosen by vaccination status are not safer. The Senate killed the bill in March 2025 (Plural Policy).

• Vaccine views. Coverage notes her past leadership of anti-vaccine groups and that she acknowledged vaccine concerns partly motivated the blood bill; critics see her health agenda as driven by vaccine skepticism.

• SNAP restrictions. Utahns Against Hunger called the candy-and-soda ban paternalistic and vaguely defined, arguing more food resources improve diets better than purchase limits.

• Engagement with voters. She did not answer the Tribune's questionnaire, so her positions on corruption, affordability, water and Amendments A and B are not on record there.

• Policy contrast. Robinson campaigns on affordability and accountability instead: easing rules for accessory homes, help for first-time buyers, limits on corporate home buying, and more transparency and limits on the state's MIDA development authority.