2026 Utah Senate election

2026 Utah Senate election

←  2024 November 3, 2026 2028 →
15 of the 29 seats in the Utah Senate 15 seats needed for a majority
Leader Stuart Adams Luz Escamilla Emily Buss Party Republican Democratic Forward Leader's seat 7th–Salt Lake 10th–Salt Lake 11th–West Valley Last election 23 seats; 68.0% 6 seats; 22.8% 0 seats; 0.0% Current seats 22 6 1 Seats needed 9 14 Seats up 10 4 1
Map of incumbents:      Republican incumbent     Democratic incumbent      Utah Forward incumbent     No election
Incumbent Senate President Stuart Adams Republican

The 2026 Utah Senate election is scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, as part of the 2026 United States elections. Fifteen of the twenty-nine seats in the Utah Senate are up for election to the 67th Legislature. The elections will coincide with elections for other offices in Utah, including for U.S. House and the state house. Newly-elected senators will take office on January 1, 2027. ^[1]

The Republicans currently hold a supermajority in the chamber, controlling twenty-two of the twenty-nine seats. The Democrats hold the second-most seats with six, and the Utah Forward has held one seat since Senator Daniel Thatcher from Salt Lake County switched from the Republican Party during the 2025 legislative session. Thatcher is the first third-party state senator in Utah since Republican senator Mark B. Madsen switched to the Libertarian Party in 2016. ^[2] Thatcher announced his resignation in October 2025, with the Utah Forward Party electing Emily Buss to fill his seat. ^{[3] [4]}

Districts 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, and 28 will be up for election in 2026.

Retirements

Republicans

1. District 5: Ann Millner is retiring. ^[5]
2. District 6: Jerry Stevenson is retiring. ^[5]

Democrats

1. District 13: Nate Blouin is retiring to run for Congress in Utah's 1st congressional district. ^[5]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [6]	Safe R	January 22, 2026

Partisan background

In the 2024 presidential election in Utah, the Republican nominee Donald Trump won twenty-two state senate districts, while the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won seven districts.

2024 Presidential results by Senate district:

  Trump

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Harris

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

By seat

This table lists which presidential candidate won each district in 2024 that is up for election in 2026. ^[7]

District	County(ies) represented	Incumbent	2024 Pres. margin
District 1	Box Elder, Cache, Tooele	Scott Sandall (R)	R+54.8
District 5	Davis, Morgan, Weber	Ann Millner (R)	R+11.8
District 6	Davis	Jerry Stevenson (R)	R+33.9
District 7	Salt Lake	J. Stuart Adams (R)	R+25.2
District 9	Salt Lake	Jen Plumb (D)	D+56.7
District 11	Salt Lake, Tooele	Emily Buss (FWD)	R+34.9
District 12	Salt Lake	Karen Kwan (D)	D+6.4
District 13	Salt Lake	Nate Blouin (D)	D+39.0
District 14	Salt Lake	Stephanie Pitcher (D)	D+31.6
District 18	Salt Lake, Utah	Daniel McCay (R)	R+30.6
District 19	Salt Lake	Kirk Cullimore Jr. (R)	R+8.9
District 20	Daggett, Duchesne, Summit, Uintah, Wasatch	Ronald Winterton (R)	R+35.2
District 21	Utah	Brady Brammer (R)	R+42.6
District 23	Utah	Keith Grover (R)	R+31.0
District 28	Beaver, Iron, Washington	Evan Vickers (R)	R+58.5

References

1. "Utah State Senate elections, 2026". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
2. Gehrke, Robert (March 7, 2025). "Sen. Dan Thatcher is leaving Utah's Republican Party to 'break the deadlock' in politics". Salt Lake City Tribune. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
3. Gehrke, Robert. "'No matter the cost': Sen. Daniel Thatcher, a thorn for Republican leaders, to resign from the Utah Legislature". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
4. Beal-Cvetko, Bridger (December 12, 2025). "Emily Buss wins preference poll to replace state Sen. Daniel Thatcher of the Forward Party". www.ksl.com. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
5. Anderson Stern, Emily; Baird, Addy; Gehrke, Robert (January 14, 2026). "13 Utah lawmakers won't seek reelection in 2026 — but nearly every open seat is contested". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
6. Jacobson, Louis (January 22, 2026). "Handicapping The 2026 State Legislative Map: A First Look". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
7. "Utah - State Navigate". State Navigate. Retrieved November 26, 2025.