- The House passed a bill that would require runoff elections for primary races without a majority winner.
- If a candidate won by more than 10 percentage points, then a runoff election would not be triggered.
- There are three days left in the legislative session.
Utah House lawmakers voted to add runoff elections to the state’s primary process on Tuesday with three days left in the 2025 legislative session.
The bill aims to address the problem of candidates winning their party’s nomination with a small share of the overall vote which has become commonplace since the state established a signature path to the ballot in 2014.
The bill, HB231, which passed 50-20, would require that county clerks hold a runoff election 35 days after the June primary if no candidate receives a majority and the winning candidate does not lead by more than 10 percentage points.
“It’s good for the person that’s eventually elected and then also for the people that they represent,” bill sponsor Rep. Jason Kyle, R-Huntsville, told the Deseret News. “Because if you get a critical mass of people ... you know that you’re there supporting people that chose you.”
In a statewide, legislative or congressional race where no candidate wins with a majority or a 10-percentage-point margin, the bill would require a rematch between the top two vote-getters in the same manner as a typical primary election but with just two names on the ballot.
What would HB231 do?
A previous version of the bill, introduced by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, would have required a runoff for every race without a majority winner, costing counties up to $2.7 million each cycle to repeat their primary election process.
Teuscher handed the bill off to Kyle, who ran nearly identical legislation in 2023, because of a lack of “bandwidth.” Kyle quickly changed the bill to exclude races with a winner that leads by more than 10 percentage points to decrease the fiscal impact and make it easier for county clerks.
“We have to balance what we want the outcomes to be, as far as the people being able to choose, and what makes the time and the money worth it,” Kyle said.
Most House Democrats were joined by a handful of Republicans in opposing HB231 on Tuesday. House Minority Whip Sahara Hayes, D-Salt Lake City, said automatic runoff elections could deter participation instead of empowering voters.
“HB231 will contribute to voter fatigue and may discourage Utahns from participating in an additional election by mandating a runoff,” Hayes told the Deseret News. “Our policies should focus on enhancing government efficiency and ensuring accessible elections.”
Since 2020, there have been nine statewide, legislative or congressional races in Utah without a majority winner, Kyle said during the floor debate. Of these, four would have required a runoff election.
This is a 10-year-old issue in Utah. In 2014, the Legislature passed the now-infamous SB54, which allowed an unlimited number of candidates to qualify for primary elections if they reach a signature-gathering threshold.
Before SB54 became law, Utah voters could participate in primary elections only if state delegates failed to coalesce behind a candidate with 60%-70% of support during a state party convention.
In such cases, the top two vote-getters from the convention would face off in a primary election managed by the state open to all party members. These two-way primaries ensured a winner with majority support.
Is there time to pass HB231?
Recent years have seen a number of high profile races won with narrow pluralities, most notably the 2020 gubernatorial election where Utah Gov. Spencer Cox won the GOP nomination with 36.2% of the vote in a four-way race, with former Gov. Jon Huntsman receiving 35%.
Under the current language of HB231, Sen. John Curtis' 2024 victory with 48.7% in a four-way race, and Rep. Mike Kennedy‘s victory with 38.8% in a five-way race, would not have required runoffs because they both won by at least 10%.
There are nine other states that require runoffs in their primary election processes — seven states require a runoff if no candidate receives a majority, North Carolina requires one if the first-place candidate gets less than 30% and South Dakota requires one if no candidate exceeds 35% in a three-way race.
While it is extremely late in the session, Kyle thinks that there is more appetite to address election concerns this year than most. Almost immediately after Kyle’s bill passed it received a Senate floor sponsor in Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton.