In a political upset, Liban Mohamed will be the Democratic Party’s top choice coming out of the convention for Utah’s newly created 1st Congressional District, gaining 51.18% of the votes at Utah’s Democratic Party Convention on Saturday.
“It’s progressives’ time to lead. It’s the working class’ time to lead,” Mohamed told the press post-victory. “Today, we got the endorsement of the Democratic Party, but we also got the endorsement of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and it’s just the beginning. The support is growing as people get to know us.
Former Salt Lake County mayor and U.S. Congressman Ben McAdams received 48.5% of the vote.
Fellow candidates state Sen. Nate Blouin and Michael Farrell will still appear on the June primary ballot with McAdams and Mohamed, having secured the required signatures despite not winning at convention.
Salt Lake City Council member and fellow 1st District Democratic candidate Eva Lopez Chavez did not receive enough signatures heading into the convention, so she will not be on the June primary ballot.
The candidate that wins the primary will go up against Republican Riley Owen in the November general election.
Is Utah getting its progressive moment?
Utah Democrats have an opportunity for a “Mamdani moment” in the state’s 1st Congressional District race, Angel Vice, chair of the Utah Democratic Party Women’s Caucus, told the Deseret News.
During the state’s Democratic Party Convention on Saturday at Jordan High School, multiple candidates gave speeches expressing their disdain for President Donald Trump and the Republican leadership currently in Congress.
Unified applause was met every time a candidate said they would abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, promise universal healthcare or end funding to U.S.-ally Israel, summed up in Farrell’s speech:
“Utahns deserve a representative who will tax the wealthy. A representative who will deliver universal healthcare and not settle for less. We will stand with our queer neighbors and pass the Equality Act. We will abolish ICE and defend our immigrant friends and neighbors, and we’ll end all, not just military, all aid to Israel.”
Since last year’s Democratic convention, two nonprofits redrew Utah’s congressional map, which was then approved by a judge after a lengthy legal struggle. As a result, in the 1st District, covering Salt Lake City, Democrats now see a genuine chance to challenge the state’s GOP leadership and expand their influence at the federal level.
It’s a race that’s “been 7½ years in the making,” Utah Democratic Party National Committee Member Brad Townley said ahead of the candidate speeches. “It’s one of the most-watched races in the state. One of the most watched races nationally.”
Progressive surge meets establishment caution in 1st District showdown
Vice said that Utah is “more progressive than our legislature, and our media gives us credit.” Her vote was with Mohamed.
During Saturday’s daylong convention, the young progressive was the first candidate to receive a standing ovation as he took the stage at Jordan High School, and arguably got the loudest support from the massive crowd inside.
Vice said when deciding her vote, she was looking at the bigger picture.
“Imagine, if you will, the message it sends to the world, if Utah sends a Somali Muslim progressive to Washington,” she said. Her fellow Mohamed supporter, Mia Hayes, added that when choosing between him and the other first district candidates, deciding was simple: “The minority status,” she told the Deseret News. “I’m done with, you know, the white male.”
Utah House Minority Leader Angela Romero stood on stage holding a poster endorsing Mohamed as he spoke. Her Democratic colleague, Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, endorsed McAdams.
Both women previously denounced their colleague Blouin after Social media posts were uncovered last week, made by Blouin more than a decade ago, denigrating The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and making crude jokes about women and sexual assault.
“I believe that Ben has the latitude to move, whereas some of the other candidates are pegged so far to the left, that’s all they’re going to be,” Riebe told the Deseret News on Saturday. “I want an adult to take the temperature down.”
In his speech, Blouin acknowledged his earlier remarks and the growth he’s experienced over the decade since. He told the Deseret News that not having support from his legislature colleagues is due to him challenging power that is “acting in the wrong direction, regardless of what party it’s coming from, and that rubs some people the wrong way.”
“I’ve taken a different approach in the legislature than many or any other people up there right now,” he said, “and I think it is important to have someone who is focused on accountability, on confronting bad behavior of legislators again, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican, let’s challenge that head on, and if that rubs some of the Democrats in the wrong way as well, then I’m OK with that.”
Blouin’s campaign was endorsed by progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, he said, because he’s willing to fight “the corporate power” and “the billionaire class that has really consolidated economic and political power in this country,” something he says McAdams will not do.
Blouin, along with McAdams, was considered a top candidate heading into the convention.
When asked how he felt about being considered the more centrist Democrat in the 1st District race, McAdams brushed it aside. “I think Utah needs someone who’s able to make progress ... progressive has to mean making progress,” he told the Deseret News. “I think voters need to know that I’m somebody who will work relentlessly to build common ground, to make progress on the issues that are most important to us, but I will stand my ground and stand up for what’s right.”
Results from the other districts
Utah’s 4th Congressional District: Johnny Larson received 94.9% of the vote.
Utah’s 3rd Congressional District: Kent Udell received 56.5% of the vote.
Utah’s 2nd Congressional District: Peter Crosby received 76.5% of the vote.
All of these races will go straight to the general election in November.