Candidates for the 89 Utah legislative races on the 2024 ballot spent more than $5.8 million during the 2024 campaign season.
According to campaign finance disclosures, the average cost of a Utah Legislative race was $65,000, with the winners spending around $40,000 on average.
Nineteen legislative contests in 2024 surpassed the $100,000 mark, with five of those exceeding the $200,000 threshold.
The most expensive legislative contest was in HD42, where four Republicans and one Democrat jumped into the race to replace Rep. Robert Spendlove, who did not run for another term in the Legislature. According to disclosures, those five candidates spent $300,292.21.
Republican Clint Okerlund, the winner, spent $61,664 on the race. However, his Democratic opponent, Travis Smith, surpassed him in spending, reporting expenditures exceeding $102,000.
The three-way Republican primary was a big contributor to the overall price tag. Michael Marker spent $91,530 in his losing primary race, while Chad Westover spent $37,282.
The most expensive race without a primary was the HD10 race, in which Republican Jill Koford narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Rosemary Lesser by just over 300 votes. Those two campaigns spent a combined $290,720 on the contest.
The Koford/Lesser race was a rematch of 2022 when Lesser prevailed by 500 votes.
The most expensive Utah Senate race was in SD15, with a total price tag of $242,900.
It cost incumbent Democrat Kathleen Riebe just $38,000 to win another term, but two of the three Republicans who sought to flip the seat away from her spent nearly $195,000. GOP nominee Scott Cuthbertson spent $92,493 while Amber Shill, who lost in the three-way GOP primary, spent $102,450.
Six winning candidates spent more than $100,000 on their campaigns:
- Democrat Karen Kwan (SD12) $166,174
- Republican Don Ipson (SD29) $141,975
- Republican Jill Koford (HD10) $134,730
- Republican Mike Schultz (HD12) $132,880
- Republican Lincoln Fillmore (SD17) $130,856
- Republican Wayne Harper (SD17) $103,193
Ipson had to fend off a primary challenge from former state Rep. Chad Bennion, which accounted for most of his spending.
Harper defeated State School Board member Christina Boggess in the GOP primary. Unaffiliated candidate Monnica Manuel proved to be a surprisingly strong opponent in the November election after she spent more than $100,000. Harper eventually prevailed by almost 6,500 votes.
Kwan outspent Republican state Rep. Judy Weeks Rohner by nearly 20-1 in the election. She won by just over 4,000 votes.
House Speaker Mike Schultz massively overwhelmed his two opponents this year, with nearly 97 out of every $100 of spending in the race coming from his campaign. Schultz spent more than $312 for every $1 by Democrat Sharon Hilton, who reported just $424 in expenditures.
Just under $43,000 in Schultz's campaign expenditures were donations to other campaigns, which may seem like a small sum for the Speaker of the House. However, his leadership political action committee donated over $214,000 to other Republican candidates.
Five candidates spent more than $100,000 in a losing effort during the 2024 campaign.
- Democrat Rosemary Lesser (HD10) $155,990.
- Democrat Stacy Bernal (SD3) $124,320.
- Unaffiliated candidate Monnica Manuel (SD16) $103,708.
- Republican Amber Shill (SD16) $102,450. Shill lost in the GOP primary.
- Democrat Travis Smith (HD42) $102,115.
Republican Joseph Elison, who was unopposed, spent the least of any winning legislative candidate this year. He reported just $1,085 in expenditures.
17 winning candidates spent less than $10,000 during the 2024 campaign. 10 of them were unopposed.
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