- Ben McAdams and Rep. Blake Moore each raised more than $500,000 in the first quarter of 2026.
- Nate Blouin establishes himself as alternative to McAdams with $300,000 in new campaign cash.
- Moore, Rep. Celeste Maloy tout Trump endorsements as Karianne Lisonbee draws legislative support.
Familiar faces dominated campaign fundraising in Utah’s four unfamiliar congressional districts at the beginning of an unprecedented election year.
Incumbents, or former incumbents, outpaced their primary challengers who are seeking to pull Beehive State politics closer to the ideological poles.
New electoral boundaries also mean new constituents, forcing sitting lawmakers to vie for endorsements and name recognition among delegates and primary voters.
The fight over Democratic dollars
In the open 1st Congressional District primary race, former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams advanced his money advantage ahead of a crowded pack of progressives.
McAdams led the first quarter of 2026 with a haul of around $580,000, with current cash on hand of around $815,000, his campaign confirmed on Tuesday.
Meanwhile state Sen. Nate Blouin consolidated support as the top match for McAdams, bringing in more than $300,000 during the first quarter.
“Job No. 1 for Blouin is to become the alternative to McAdams,” said Kirk Jowers, a former political consultant and former director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
“If he has a great financial quarter on top of what he did last year, then he at least gets closer to that one-on-one matchup that every challenger wants.”
Blouin’s campaign has around $180,500 cash on hand to counter a $610,000 ad buy from the New Democratic Majority PAC in support of McAdams.
So far in the midterm election cycle, McAdams has brought in a total of more than $1.5 million, compared to Blouin’s more than $500,000.
Tech policy expert Liban Mohamed said he raised $112,000 in the 1st quarter. Other Democratic candidates in the Salt Lake County district did not provide updates.
One of the district’s GOP contenders, Riley Owen, said he had already raised over $100,000 in three weeks for his longshot bid in the blue district.
The GOP money race
In addition to creating a seat that favors Democrats by 14-24 percentage points, Utah’s court-ordered map created three districts that favor Republicans by 40 points.
This appears to have encouraged well-known conservative challengers to launch congressional bids against two of the state’s GOP incumbents.
In the 2nd District, which covers northern Utah, Rep. Blake Moore faces an aggressive campaign from former state House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee.
But in terms of dollar totals there is not much of a contest.
Moore, who is the fifth-ranked Republican in the U.S. House — and one of the only Utahns ever to serve in leadership — raised more than $505,300 in the first quarter.
This leaves Moore with $2.4 million cash on hand, not taking into account the money in his leadership PAC and joint fundraising committee with the national GOP.
However, this comes at the end of Moore’s third term in office. In the three weeks after declaring her candidacy, Lisonbee raised more than $150,000.
“Fundraising is an indicator of your ability to reach out to people and for them to support you,” said former 2nd District Rep. Chris Stewart.
“Very few people give money to a candidate that they don’t know. ... So fundraising is an indicator of your public support. Is it the only indicator? For sure it’s not.”
Rep. Celeste Maloy, a former Stewart staffer who took over his seat in a 2023 special election, leads fundraising in her race in a transformed 3rd Congressional District.
Maloy must now campaign in all of eastern Utah, in addition to all of southern Utah. So far in 2026, she has raised more than $300,000 to do so, her campaign confirmed.
Maloy has $470,000 cash on hand to reach out across the sprawling district. Unlike her previous reelection campaign, she is also gathering signatures to qualify for the primary.
Her opponent, Phil Lyman, is also gathering signatures after he and Maloy both relied entirely on delegate support to secure primary qualification in 2024.
In a statement, Lyman’s campaign spokesperson said his focus is on “earning delegate votes,” not on fundraising. “He hasn’t asked anyone for money,” the statement said.
McAdams, Blouin and Moore have already qualified for the June ballot via signatures. Lisonbee skipped signatures and will rely on delegate nomination on April 25.
Rep. Mike Kennedy is also limiting himself to the convention path to the primary. In the first quarter, he raised $190,000 with $370,000 cash on hand.
Kennedy does not face a well-known challenger in the 4th District, which encompasses parts of northern Utah County, southern Salt Lake County and western Utah.
The Federal Election Commission filing deadline for congressional candidates is April 15.
Who did President Trump endorse in Utah?
Alongside the money game, candidates are playing up their in-state and national connections with endorsements they hope prove their track record and partisan purity.
McAdams, with his background as a former congressman, as well as Salt Lake County mayor and a state lawmaker, touts endorsements from Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and most of the city council.
After sharing his personal opposition to abortion in 2020, McAdams is advertising an endorsement from former Planned Parenthood Association CEO Karrie Galloway.
In his effort to build “the progressive campaign” in the 1st District, Blouin has amassed a long list of endorsements from high profile politicians and advocacy groups.
Blouin has been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar, former chair Pramila Jayapal and California Rep. Ro Khanna.
National groups like the Jane Fonda Climate PAC and Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption also endorsed him. Local endorsements include multiple lawmakers and labor unions.
A battle between local and national endorsements is also playing out in the 2nd District.
Moore tallies endorsements from President Donald Trump, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and Utah Senate President Stuart Adams.
In a show of legislative influence, Lisonbee announced on Tuesday endorsements from the entire Utah House majority leadership team and more than 30 other state lawmakers.
Maloy has also received Trump’s endorsement as she faces Lyman in parts of the state where she lost and Lyman won as a gubernatorial candidate in 2024.
“Everyone wants an endorsement of the president,” Stewart said. “If you’re in a very hotly contested primary ... then it’s much more important.”
Maloy has also received endorsements from outgoing Rep. Burgess Owens, the entire state Senate and House majority leadership teams and lawmakers in the district.
Correction: A statement earlier attributed to Phil Lyman came from his campaign manager. And Nate Blouin remains a state senator until his term ends.