Ben McAdams (D) defeated Nate Blouin (D), Michael Farrell (D), and Liban Mohamed (D) in the Democratic primary for Utah's 1st Congressional District on June 23, 2026. As of April 2026, Blouin, McAdams, and Mohamed led in fundraising and local media attention.
The race took place in the context of redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. On November 10, 2025, Judge Dianna Gibson ordered the adoption of a new U.S. House map in Utah after she ruled the process used to adopt the previous map was unconstitutional. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales' Nathaniel Rakich said, "[u]nder the new map, Utah’s 1st District is now a Democratic-leaning seat that covers most of Salt Lake County. Former Vice President Kamala Harris would have carried it by 24 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election."
The Salt Lake Tribune's Robert Gehrke said the race was "revealing the divisions within the Democratic Party, between the largely older, moderate pragmatists and the rising generation of progressive idealists inspired by the likes of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani." Local radio station KUER quoted Weber State University professor Leah Murray as saying, "There's not a lot of [policy] difference between these people ... So the answer is, I have to show some difference between me and the other people in my party, right?"
McAdams was, as of the 2026 elections, an attorney and represented Utah's 4th Congressional District from 2019 to 2021. The district lines of the 4th District during McAdams' term overlapped with the lines of the 2026 version of the 1st District. McAdams served as Salt Lake County Mayor from 2013 to 2019 and in the Utah Senate from 2008 to 2012. McAdams said he was running "because what’s happening in Washington isn’t working for people."
Blouin was elected to the Utah Senate in 2022. Before running for office, Blouin worked as a renewable energy advocate. Blouin's campaign website said he was "proud of being labeled a 'punk' after standing up to Republican leadership and getting his mic cut off on the Senate floor on numerous occasions ... we’re not going to beat Donald Trump and the billionaires buying influence in Washington unless we’re willing to fight."
Mohamed was an advocate and policy analyst who worked for the American Heart Association, Meta, and TikTok. Mohamed completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. In his survey response, Mohamed said, "I will support legislation that puts people first by lowering costs, expanding affordable housing and healthcare, creating good-paying jobs, and getting corporate money out of politics."
The Democratic Party of Utah held its nominating convention on April 24-25, 2026. In order to appear on the primary ballot, candidates needed to either submit 7,000 petition signatures or advance from the convention vote. Mohamed advanced to the primary from the convention vote. Blouin, Farrell, and McAdams submitted 7,000 signatures.
As of June 2026, major election forecasters rated the general election Solid/Safe Democratic.
