With a dismal voter turnout, Tuesday's primary results provide only a brief glimpse into what may happen in November’s
general election. The vote counts are still early, and majorities remain the
same until after the next election. With
20% of votes counted, here’s a quick summary of the state legislature and
statewide races.
Senate
Republicans keep edge, House Democrats see slight increase
Going into the primary, Republicans
controlled the Senate with a 25-23 party majority, and a 26-23 majority when Democrat
Tim Sheldon joined the majority caucus. Based on primary results, it would
appear that most Senators are holding firm, while two have a race on their
hands in November that could mean a party change.
Seven of the 25 Senators who had terms
expiring January 2017 are not returning to the Legislature, having decided to
retire or run for a different office. In all of these races, current House
members are running for the Senate seat. If the results today were the end,
these seats would stay with their party of record.
In addition, six senators whose terms
expire in 2019 filed to run for a different office last May; of those, it
appears that only three will be moving on to the general election. If they are
successful in November, county commissioners in those legislative districts
would be required to select a replacement of the same party next December or
January. The others will return to the Senate for the 2017 legislative session.
Primary result: 24 Republicans, 25
Democrats (but Sheldon expected to continue to caucus with Rs)
In the House, Democrats have a 50-48
majority, which means Republicans only needed to flip one seat to force a “tie
government” come January. In addition to the seven House members running for
Senate, seven are running for a different office or retired. House members must
run every two years, which means that 14 open House seats were up for grabs in
this election. In addition, both parties fielded some aggressive candidates,
taking on incumbents in both Republican- and Democratic-held districts. Of the
98 seats up this year, three could change party hands, while several others
remain in play November 8.
Primary result: 51 Democrats, 47
Republicans
Reykdal,
Jones to face off in November
The top two “vote getters” regardless of
party move onto the general election. Surprisingly, five of the nine separately elected statewide positions were open this year. On the education
front, House Representative Chris Reykdal and educator Erin Jones will advance in the
race to replace retiring Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn. Other
top two candidates advancing to the November election are (with 20% of vote
counted, as of 9:37p.m. on August
2nd):
·
Commissioner
for Public Lands: Steve McLaughlin R; Hilary Franz D
·
Treasurer:
Duane Davidson R; Michael Waite R
·
Auditor:
Mark Miloscia R; Pat McCarthy D
·
Lieutenant
Governor: Marty McClendon R; Cyrus Habib D (NOTE:
A crowded field of Democrats led a Republican, who has likely never been on the
Senate floor, to take the lead and advance to the General)
