McAdams and Moore lead money race in Utah’s redrawn 2026 midterm races
Familiar faces dominated campaign fundraising in Utah’s four congressional districts at the start of an unprecedented election year.
Incumbents, or former incumbents, have outpaced their primary opponents who seek to bring Beehive State politics closer to the ideological poles.
New electoral boundaries also mean new voters, forcing sitting lawmakers to fight for support and name recognition among delegates and primary voters.
The fight for Democratic dollars
In the open 1st Congressional District primary race, former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams pressed his financial advantage ahead of a large field of progressives.
McAdams led the first quarter of 2026 with a haul of about $580,000, with a current cash flow of about $815,000, his campaign confirmed Tuesday.
Meanwhile, former state Sen. Nate Blouin solidified his support as McAdams’ top match, bringing in more than $300,000 during the first quarter.
“Blouin’s No. 1 job is to become the alternative to McAdams,” said Kirk Jowers, a former political consultant and former director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
“If he has a great financial quarter on top of what he did last year, then he’s at least getting closer to that one-on-one matchup that every challenger wants.”
Blouin’s campaign has about $180,500 in cash to counter a $610,000 ad buy from the majority NDP PAC in support of McAdams.
So far in the midterm election cycle, McAdams has brought in a total of more than $1.5 million, compared to Blouin’s more than $500,000.
Other Democratic candidates running in the new 1st District covering most of Salt Lake County have not provided fundraising updates.
One of the district’s GOP contenders, Riley Owens, said he has already raised more than $100,000 in three weeks for his long-shot bid in the blue district.
The Republican Party’s race for money
In addition to creating one seat that favors Democrats by 14 to 24 percentage points, Utah’s court-ordered map created three districts that favor Republicans by 40 points.
That appears to have emboldened well-known conservative challengers to launch congressional bids against two of the state’s incumbent Republican candidates.
In the 2nd District, which covers northern Utah, Rep. Blake Moore is facing an aggressive campaign from former House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee.
But in terms of total amount, there is no real competition.
Moore, who is the fifth Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives — and one of the only Utahns to ever hold the leadership — raised more than $505,300 in the first quarter.
That leaves Moore with $2.4 million in cash, not including money from his leadership PAC and joint fundraising committee with the national GOP.
However, this comes at the end of Moore’s third term. In the three weeks since he applied, Lisonbee has raised more than $150,000.
“Fundraising is an indicator of your ability to reach people and get them to support you,” said former 2nd District Rep. Chris Stewart.
“Very few people give money to a candidate they don’t know. (…) So fundraising is an indicator of your public support. Is that the only indicator? It’s certainly not the case.”
Rep. Celeste Maloy, a former Stewart staffer who took her seat in a 2023 special election, is leading fundraising in her race in a transformed 3rd Congressional District.
Maloy now has to campaign throughout eastern Utah, in addition to all of southern Utah. So far in 2026, she has raised more than $300,000 to do so, her campaign confirmed.
Maloy has $470,000 in cash to expand across the sprawling district. Unlike her previous re-election campaign, she is also gathering signatures to qualify for the primaries.
His opponent, Phil Lyman, is also gathering signatures after he and Maloy relied entirely on delegate support to secure their primary qualification in 2024.
In a statement, Lyman said he was once again focused on “getting delegate votes,” not fundraising. “He did not ask anyone for money,” the statement said.
McAdams, Blouin and Moore have already qualified for the June ballot through signatures. Lisonbee skipped the signatures and will rely on nominating delegates on April 25.
Rep. Mike Kennedy is also narrowing down the convention’s path to the primaries. In the first quarter, it raised $190,000 with $370,000 in cash.
Who did President Trump support in Utah?
Along with the money game, candidates are highlighting their statewide and national connections to supporters they hope will prove their track record and partisan purity.
McAdams, with his experience as a former congressman, as well as a Salt Lake County mayor and state legislator, touts the support of Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and most City Council members.
After sharing her personal opposition to abortion in 2020, McAdams announces the support of former Planned Parenthood Association CEO Karrie Galloway.
In his efforts to build “the progressive campaign” in the 1st District, Blouin has accumulated a long list of endorsements from high-profile politicians and advocacy groups.
Blouin was endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar, former Speaker Pramila Jayapal and California Rep. Ro Khanna.
National groups like Jane Fonda Climate PAC and Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption have also supported it. Local backers include several lawmakers and unions.
A battle between local and national support is also playing out in the 2nd arrondissement.
Moore counts endorsements from President Donald Trump, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Utah Senate President Stuart Adams.
In a show of legislative influence, Lisonbee announced support Tuesday from the entire Utah House majority leadership team and more than 30 other state lawmakers.
Maloy also received support from Trump as she faced Lyman in parts of the state where she lost and Lyman won as a candidate for governor in 2024.
“Everyone wants the president’s support,” Stewart said. “If you’re in a hotly contested primary … then it’s much more important.”
