Utah 2026 Election & Infrastructure Intelligence

# Utah Statewide Election and Infrastructure Overview ## Election structure Utah has no regularly scheduled governor or U.S. Senate election in 2026. The principal federal contests are all four U.S. House districts. The official candidate filing page was last updated July 20, 2026, and identifies the general-election candidates used in this package. The write-in filing deadline is August 28, 2026, so the feed should continue daily ballot-status checks through certification. ## Redistricting The 2026 congressional election uses a new court-ordered map. UT-01 is centered on Salt Lake-area voters and is the state's principal competitive district. The other three districts remain Republican-favored. ## Data centers, power and water Utah has moved toward conditional enablement rather than an unrestricted growth model. Title 54, Chapter 26 creates a dedicated large-load electric-service framework covering contracts, private generation, flexible tariffs, customer obligations and regulatory review. HB 76 adds annual water-use and conservation reporting for large data centers. State leaders continue promoting nuclear, transmission and other generation while emphasizing protection of existing ratepayers. The proposed Stratos development in Box Elder County is the immediate statewide stress test. Senate President Stuart Adams announced that the developer accepted a 75% reduction in the proposed area and new Great Salt Lake water commitments. The project still requires written commitments, permitting and environmental review. ## Posture assessment No 2026 federal candidate was assigned a definitive Enable, Pause, Restrict, Conditional or Mixed label without direct issue-specific evidence. All 19 candidates are therefore marked Unverified, with broader energy or economic-development alignment recorded separately where relevant. ## Sources - https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ - https://vote.utah.gov/current-election-information/ - https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title5

Race	Status	Candidates	Impact	Key issue

# Utah 2026 Race and Candidate Dossiers ## U.S. House District 1 **Status:** General election field certified **Rating:** Leans Democratic / pickup opportunity **Polling:** No verified public general-election poll located **Infrastructure focus:** Salt Lake urban growth, grid capacity, semiconductor and technology workforce, water conservation ### Ben McAdams (Democratic) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific public data-center siting, cost-allocation, or water framework located. - Alignment/backing: Former U.S. representative; Democratic nominee in the newly drawn Salt Lake-centered district. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ### Riley Owen (Republican) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position located. - Alignment/backing: Republican nominee. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ### Jesse West (Libertarian) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position located. - Alignment/backing: Libertarian nominee. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ### Elias Henry Montgomery (Unaffiliated) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position located. - Alignment/backing: Unaffiliated candidate. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ## U.S. House District 2 **Status:** General election field certified **Rating:** Safe Republican **Polling:** No verified public general-election poll located **Infrastructure focus:** Northern Utah industry, defense, transmission, energy affordability, Great Salt Lake watershed ### Blake D. Moore (Republican) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: Supports economic and energy development, but no sufficiently specific Utah data-center framework was located. - Alignment/backing: Incumbent member of Congress; Republican nominee. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ### Peter Crosby (Democratic) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position located. - Alignment/backing: Democratic nominee. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ### Daniel Cottam (Libertarian) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position located. - Alignment/backing: Libertarian nominee. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ### Carlton E. Bowen (Independent American) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position located. - Alignment/backing: Independent American nominee. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-candidate-filings/ ### Robert M. Moesinger (Unaffiliated) - Posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct position located. - Alignment/backing: Unaffiliated candidate. - Source: https://vote.utah.gov/2026-cand

# Research Gaps and Refresh Rules ## Daily refresh - Recheck the Utah candidate filing page daily through final ballot certification. - Check for write-in filings through August 28, 2026. - Add any credible district polling with pollster, sponsor, field dates, sample, mode and margin of error. - Monitor Stratos permitting, referendum or litigation activity, water commitments, generation plans and local approvals. - Monitor implementation of Title 54 Chapter 26 tariffs and HB 76 water reporting. ## Evidence rules - Do not infer a candidate's data-center posture solely from party affiliation. - Use Unverified until direct statements, votes, sponsored legislation, official plans or documented project interventions are located. - Separate general AI policy from physical data-center siting, electricity, water, tax and local-control policy. - Preserve all source URLs and dates.