Forward Party of Utah
American political party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Forward Party of Utah, formerly the United Utah Party (UUP), is a centrist political party in the United States. It was founded in 2017 and is active only in the state of Utah. The party identifies itself as politically moderate and was created out of frustration with the Republican and Democratic parties. It merged with the Forward Party (FWD) of Utah and took up its current name at a joint-party conference in April 2025.
Jim Bennett
April 26, 2025 (as Forward Party of Utah)
United Utah Party
Forward Party of Utah | |
|---|---|
| |
| Chairperson | Michelle Quist |
| Founder | Richard Davis Jim Bennett |
| Founded | May 22, 2017 (as United Utah Party) April 26, 2025 (as Forward Party of Utah) |
| Merger of | Utah Forward Party United Utah Party |
| Membership (2026) | 3,028[1] |
| Ideology | Centrism Third Way Reformism |
| Political position | Center[2] |
| National affiliation | Forward Party |
| Colors | Maroon Purple Cyan Blue Red Navy White |
| U.S. Senate (Utah Seats) | 0 / 2 |
| U.S. House of Representatives (Utah Seats) | 0 / 4 |
| Seats in the State Senate[a] | 1 / 29 |
| Seats in the State House | 0 / 75 |
| Other elected offices | 1 (Teri McCabe – Provo City School Board) |
| Website | |
| utahforwardparty.org | |
History
Background and formation
Prior to the formation of the United Utah Party, Brigham Young University (BYU) political science professor Richard Davis had considered forming a political party for years. According to Davis, he found people were open to an alternative political party during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[4] He announced the formation of the party on May 22, 2017.[5] Davis became a chairperson for the party. Jim Bennett, the son of former U.S. Senator Bob Bennett, was the party's executive director until he stepped down to run as the UUP's candidate in a special congressional election to replace Jason Chaffetz.[2] Nils Bergeson, a former U.S. foreign service officer, became the party's second executive director in 2018.[6]
2017 Utah congressional election
On May 26, 2017, Jim Bennett attempted to apply as an affiliated candidate in Utah's 3rd congressional district special election, 2017, but the lieutenant governor's office rejected the application because the elections office had not had 30 days to finish certifying the new party.[7][8] Bennett refused to register as an unaffiliated candidate.[9] Utah's elections office certified the party on June 27, 2017.[10]
On June 21, 2017, the UUP filed a lawsuit against Utah state officials to get Bennett's name on the ballot.[11] In court, a Utah state attorney argued that the UUP could have formed earlier to meet the application deadline. A party lawyer argued that only a "soothsayer" could have predicted that Jason Chaffetz would resign from the U.S. House of Representatives.[12] On August 2, 2017, a federal judge in charge of the case ordered Utah election officials to allow Bennett on the ballot under the United Utah Party.[13]
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In late September 2017, Bennett narrowly qualified to participate in the Utah Debate Commission's selective debate, along with the election's Republican and Democratic candidates, John Curtis and Kathie Allen.[14] The special election was held on November 7, 2017, and Bennett conceded the race hours after the polls closed, and initial results showed Curtis winning and Allen getting second place.[15] Bennett got third place with 9.3% of the popular vote.[16]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Curtis | 85,751 | 58.02% | |
| Democratic | Kathie Allen | 37,801 | 25.58% | |
| United Utah | Jim Bennett | 13,747 | 9.30% | |
| Independent | Sean Whalen | 4,554 | 3.08% | |
| Libertarian | Joe Buchman | 3,644 | 2.47% | |
| Independent American | Jason Christensen | 2,286 | 1.55% | |
| Write-in | Brendan Phillips | 8 | 0.01% | |
| Write-in | Russell Paul Roesler | 5 | 0.00% | |
| Total votes | 147,796 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2018 House of Representatives elections
In February 2018, two UUP candidates announced they would run for the United States House of Representatives: Jan Garbett and Logan, Utah native Eric Eliason, who challenged Republicans Chris Stewart and Rob Bishop respectively.[18] On March 20, 2018, the United Utah Party held caucuses at 19 locations with attendance of just over 900 people, when the party had just over 400 registered members.[19] Garbett later withdrew from the race. Eliason was defeated, receiving 11.6% of the vote as Rob Bishop was reelected to what would become his final term.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Rob Bishop (incumbent) | 156,692 | 61.6 | |
| Democratic | Lee Castillo | 63,308 | 24.9 | |
| United Utah | Eric Eliason | 29,547 | 11.6 | |
| Green | Adam Davis | 4,786 | 1.9 | |
| Total votes | 254,333 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Curtis (incumbent) | 174,856 | 67.5 | |
| Democratic | James Singer | 70,686 | 27.3 | |
| Independent American | Gregory Duerden | 6,686 | 2.6 | |
| United Utah | Timothy Zeidner | 6,630 | 2.6 | |
| Total votes | 258,858 | 100.0 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2020 elections
Candidates
| Name | Office | Votes | % | Position | Margin with
winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Fabbi | State Auditor | 173,644 | 13.0 | 2nd | 61.8 |
| Thomas McNeill | US Representative - CD3 | 7,040 | 2.0 | 4th | 66.7 |
| Jonia Broderick | US Representative - CD4 | 8,037 | 2.1 | 4th | 45.6 |
| Emily Bergeson | State Senator - SD7 | 11,351 | 22.3 | 2nd | 55.4 |
| Chris Rawlins | State Representative - HD6 | 4,767 | 19.6 | 2nd | 60.8 |
| Shawn Ferriola | State Representative - HD12 | 3,983 | 22.8 | 2nd | 54.4 |
| Ammon Gruwell | State Representative - HD15 | 5,301 | 22.8 | 2nd | 54.4 |
| Cabot Nelson | State Representative - HD25 | 607 | 3.0 | 3rd | 79.8 |
| Tanner Greenhalgh | State Representative - HD29 | 691 | 3.1 | 3rd | 75.5 |
| Adam Bean | State Representative - HD35 | 662 | 4.5 | 3rd | 63.3 |
| Dave Lundgren | State Representative - HD41 | 1,602 | 6.4 | 3rd | 63.0 |
| Ryan Boudwin | State Representative - HD42 | 1,178 | 4.9 | 3rd | 53.6 |
| Jeff Bardin | State Representative - HD43 | 825 | 5.4 | 3rd | 47.0 |
| John Jackson | State Representative - HD44 | 733 | 3.9 | 3rd | 51.8 |
| Joseph Shelton | State Representative - HD48 | 654 | 3.7 | 3rd | 68.6 |
| Kate Walters | State Representative - HD56 | 3,576 | 18.4 | 2nd | 63.2 |
| Homer Morrill | State Representative - HD58 | 809 | 4.8 | 3rd | 79.8 |
| Catherine Eslinger | State Representative - HD59 | 4,841 | 24.2 | 2nd | 51.5 |
| Christine Heath | State Representative - HD60 | 3,540 | 22.0 | 2nd | 50.7 |
| Nils Bergeson | State Representative - HD61 | 3,034 | 20.3 | 2nd | 59.4 |
| Austin Simcox | State Representative - HD63 | 588 | 7.6 | 3rd | 53.4 |
| Piper Manesse | State Representative - HD72 | 1,374 | 7.5 | 3rd | 67.9 |
| Ed Phillips | Millard County Commissioner | 2,319 | 38.3 | 2nd | 23.4 |
| Monette Clark | San Juan County Commissioner | 481 | 20.6 | 2nd | 58.7 |
| Larry Smith | Sanpete County Commissioner | 2,672 | 22.1 | 2nd | 55.8 |
2022 elections
Candidates
| Name | Office | Votes | % | Position | Margin with
winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evan McMullin | Senate (endorse) | 459,958 | 42.7 | 2nd | 10.5 |
| Thomas Horne | State Treasurer (special) | 94,265 | 9.6 | 3rd | 64.5 |
| Jay Mcfarland | US Representative - CD2 | 8,622 | 3.3 | 3rd | 56.4 |
| January Walker | US Representative - CD4 | 16,740 | 6.6 | 3rd | 54.5 |
| Kimberly Wagner | State Senator - SD7 | 10,651 | 28.1 | 2nd | 43.8 |
| Dennis Roach | State Senator - SD14 | 929 | 1.8 | 3rd | 60.4 |
| Jed Nordfeldt | State Senator - SD18 | 1,842 | 5.1 | 3rd | 61.3 |
| Tyler Peterson | State Senator - SD19 | 3,301 | 6.9 | 3rd | 51.5 |
| Patricia Bradford | State Senator - SD28 | 3,354 | 9.0 | 3rd | 71.9 |
| Ammon Gruwell | State Representative - HD15 | 3,147 | 22.4 | 2nd | 55.3 |
| Cabot Nelson | State Representative - HD23 | 535 | 2.6 | 3rd | 74.0 |
| Evan Rodgers | State Representative - HD30 | 638 | 6.2 | 3rd | 42.5 |
| Adam Bean | State Representative - HD32 | 353 | 2.7 | 3rd | 69.9 |
| Tim Loftis | State Representative - HD40 | 439 | 3.8 | 3rd | 52.0 |
| David Jack | State Representative - HD42 | 4,326 | 21.7 | 2nd | 36.1 |
| Ladd Johnson | State Representative - HD46 | 5,562 | 35.5 | 2nd | 29.1 |
| Dave Lundgren | State Representative - HD47 | 4,530 | 29.8 | 2nd | 40.4 |
| Andrew Matishen | State Representative - HD54 | 993 | 5.5 | 3rd | 74.6 |
| Alan Wessman | State Representative - HD64 | 2,761 | 20.0 | 2nd | 60.0 |
| Zeno Parry | State Representative - HD70 | 1,228 | 8.1 | 2nd | 83.8 |
| Piper Manesse | State Representative - HD71 | 886 | 7.2 | 3rd | 69.3 |
| Jonathan Munoz | Millard County Commissioner | 2,188 | 43.2 | 2nd | 13.7 |
2023 elections
In 2023, Chris Stewart resigned as the representative of Utah's 2nd congressional district, prompting a special election on November 21. January Walker, the party's nominee for the 4th district in 2022, won the United Utah Party's nominating convention,[21] placing 5th in the special election with 2,856 votes and 1.81%.
2024 elections
Candidates
| Name | Office | Votes | % | Position | Margin with
winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaughn Cook | US Representative - CD4 | 17,347 | 4.77 | 3rd of 4 | 58.65 |
| Michelle Quist | State Attorney General | 50,053 | 3.45 | 5th of 5 | 54.39 |
| Cabot Nelson | State Representative - HD23 | 481 | 1.93 | 3rd of 3 | 69.73 |
| Dennis Roach | State Representative - HD34 | 519 | 2.49 | 3rd of 3 | 60.47 |
| John Jackson | State Representative - HD40 | 483 | 3.12 | 3rd of 3 | 54.22 |
| Dave Lundgren | State Representative - HD47 | 5,034 | 24.92 | 2nd of 2 | 50.16 |
| Alex Day | State Representative - HD53 | 3,943 | 19.98 | 2nd of 2 | 60.04 |
| Zeno Parry | State Representative - HD70 | 1,399 | 6.69 | 2nd of 2 | 86.62 |
| Alan Wessman | Utah County Commissioner | 61,604 | 22.81 | 2nd of 2 | 54.38 |
| Tori Broughton | Wasatch County Councilor | 690 | 24.25 | 2nd of 3 | 29.70 |
Forward Party merger
On April 2, 2025, the party announced plans to merge with the Forward Party of Utah,[24] and during a joint convention on April 26, members of both parties voted in favor of the merger.[25]
Political positions
The UUP focuses on 5 political priorities that party members refer to as the "5 E's": Economy, Education, Environment, Equality and Ethical Government.[26] The 5th "E" of Ethical Government includes support for alternative voting methods (such as ranked choice voting and approval voting), more non-partisan elections, and opposing efforts to impose partisan politics on the judicial branch of government.[27] According to former UUP chairman Richard Davis, the party's platform is mostly based on laws and principles, rather than specific policy positions.[4] He told The Salt Lake Tribune that the party supports term limits, stricter campaign-finance laws, efforts to stop gerrymandering, and increased school funding. The party's platform also includes advocating for a healthy immigration system that creates and enforces fair laws. The party believes that public lands can be preserved while still allowing economic development.[4] The UUP supports the right of responsible gun owners to possess firearms.[28]
The UUP supports efforts to stop using taxpayer money in the Utah Republican Party's closed primary elections.[29] On December 1, 2017, the party called for greater transparency regarding sexual harassment allegations on Capitol Hill.[30] In January 2018, the UUP announced support for the "Our Schools Now" initiative, a proposed progressive tax meant to increase funding for education.[31]
Notes
- Utah State Senator Emily Buss was elected in a special election to replace Forward politician Daniel Thatcher, who switched to the party from the Republican Party[3]
