Utah 2012 Election Results

Utah held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 91 legislative seats and 5 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans expanded their control of both chambers, to 24-5 in the Senate and 61-14 in the House, while Gov. Gary Herbert (R) won re-election, beating Peter Cooke (D) by about 41 points.
• Democrats lost seats in both chambers on the new maps. Brian Shiozawa (R) picked up the seat of retiring Sen. Karen Morgan (D), beating Josie Valdez (D) by about 14 points in Senate District 8. Rep. Christine Watkins (D), one of 2 incumbents to lose in November, fell to Jerry B. Anderson (R) by about 320 votes in House District 69, and Craig Hall (R) took the open, Democratic-held House District 33 over Liz Muniz (D) by about 450 votes.
• Redistricting put two incumbents in House District 30, where Rep. Janice Fisher (D) beat Rep. Fred Cox (R) by about 360 votes. The closest race was in House District 31, where Rep. Larry Wiley (D) held on by 77 votes over Fred Johnson (R).
• Republicans kept every statewide office on the ballot, including the open attorney general and auditor posts won by John Swallow (R) and John Dougall (R). Voters approved both constitutional amendments: Amendment A, on severance taxes, passed with about 51%, and Amendment B, a military property tax exemption, passed comfortably.

Legislature

• House (75 seats): 17 D, 58 R before the election, 14 D, 61 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (29 seats): 7 D, 22 R before the election, 5 D, 24 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures