This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sandy • After losing to Rep. Jim Matheson in 2012 by a razor-thin margin, Republican Mia Love will get another shot at going to Congress, this time taking on Doug Owens, the son of a former congressman.

Love, who gained national prominence in her first campaign, clinched the party's nomination by securing more than 78 percent of the vote Saturday from Republican delegates in the 4th Congressional District against opponent Bob Fuehr.

Love said she met with more delegates during the past five weeks than the nearly 850 who actually showed up from her district to vote at the state GOP convention at South Towne Expo Center.

"I am honored to have their support. They really make this process awesome for me. This is my favorite part," she said. "Going on from here, we are going to work hard. We are not going to take anything for granted. I am going to go out and earn every vote and really amplify Utah's voice."

Utah's three Republican incumbent members of Congress — Rep. Rob Bishop, Rep. Chris Stewart and Rep. Jason Chaffetz — all won their party's nomination convincingly.

In other races Saturday, GOP delegates knocked Rep. Jerry Anderson, R-Price, out of the running and sent former Sen. Casey Anderson and Sen. Evan Vickers, both of Cedar City, to a rematch of their 2012 contest.

Delegates also passed a resolution urging the Republican Party to fight against a law passed during the last legislative session that would dilute the power of future party conventions, and to fight for an effort calling on the federal government to turn over tens of millions of acres of federal land to the state.

Love emerged from a crowded field to capture the Republican nomination two years ago. Then, in a hard-fought contest with millions of dollars of national money pouring in on both sides, she lost to Matheson by 768 votes out of nearly a quarter of a million ballots cast.

The former mayor of Saratoga Springs barely stopped running, re-launching her campaign soon after the defeat, but the seven-term incumbent Matheson — the lone Democrat in Utah's congressional delegation — decided not to seek re-election.

Love has already raised more than $2 million in her second bid for the 4th District seat. Fuehr raised less than $300,000.

New system • Saturday's Republican and Democratic conventions could be the final gatherings before a new law takes effect that will significantly overhaul how candidates are picked.

The group Count My Vote, led by former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt and other influential and well-heeled Republicans, launched a petition drive last year to put a measure on the ballot to strip the party conventions of most of their authority, arguing the caucus-convention system is exclusionary and doesn't represent the average Utahn.

The Count My Vote proposal would have forced candidates to collect signatures and compete for party nominations in primary elections.

After the group spent more than $1 million and gathered most of the signatures the group would need, Utah lawmakers passed a compromise version that allows the conventions to continue, but lets candidates circumvent the delegate process by gathering signatures to qualify for a primary battle.

The new petition-passing system of direct primaries is scheduled to kick in for the 2016 election. But GOP delegates Saturday overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging the party to challenge the constitutionality of the new law, arguing the state cannot tell private organizations how to conduct their business.

"Legal precedents show if we challenge the law, we will win," said Michael Wilson, the sponsor of the resolution, who said that only the party has legal standing to challenge the new law. "Failure to do so is unacceptable."

The prospect of a legal challenge puts the party in a sticky spot, since many of the GOP's wealthy donors supported Count My Vote and gave money to the cause.

Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans would not discuss the party's potential response to the change in the nominating system, saying it would be unwise to broadcast the strategy.

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, who will be up for election in 2016 and may have more riding on the kind of nominating system in place than any other candidate, received a thunderous standing ovation from the nearly 4,000 delegates — easily the loudest and longest of any of the elected officials who spoke Saturday.

The first-term senator said the federal government has no business telling citizens when they can visit their doctor and spying on phone calls and email and that Americans should expect better.

Other races • In state legislative races, first-term state Rep. Jerry Anderson, a retired science teacher who made waves earlier this year by arguing that the environment needs more carbon dioxide, not less, was bounced from the eastern Utah seat he won from Rep. Christine Watkins two years ago. Watkins left the Democratic Party after her loss and challenged Anderson this year as a Republican. But Bill Labrum, an auto dealer from Roosevelt, won the nomination. He will face former Rep. Brad King, the Democratic nominee.

"I don't have a résumé of what I've accomplished in the Legislature. My résumé is my life," Labrum said.

Casey Anderson got 86 votes to Vickers' 59 votes, coming one vote shy of capturing the nomination at convention, meaning the two will face off in a rematch of their 2012 primary fight that Vickers won.

Ann Millner, the former president of Weber State University, won the nomination over Lars Birkeland in the contest to replace retiring Sen. Stuart Reid in the Ogden Senate district.

Sen. Daniel Thatcher won the nomination in his Magna, West Valley and Tooele County district; Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, clinched the nod in his mostly rural district.

In key House races decided Saturday, Scott Sandall won the nomination to replace retiring Rep. Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, in her northern Utah district and Scott Chew won the party's nod to replace retiring Rep. John Mathis of Vernal.

Twitter: @RobertGehrke

Matt Canham contributed to this report. —

Republican Convention Results

• Congressional District 1

Rep. Rob Bishop – 767 votes – 80.74 percent - NOMINEE

Dave Chiu – 183 votes – 19.26 percent

• Congressional District 2

Rep. Chris Stewart – 602 votes – 67.79 percent — NOMINEE

Zach Hartman – 42 votes – 4.73 percent

Vaughn Hatton — 53 votes – 5.97 percent

Larry Myers – 191 votes – 21.51 percent

• Congressional District 3

Rep. Jason Chaffetz – 883 votes — 87.17 percent — NOMINEE

Robert Stevens – 65 votes – 6.42 percent

Mark Hedengren – 65 votes – 6.42 percent

• Congressional District 4

Bob Fuehr – 182 votes – 21.56 percent

Mia Love – 662 votes – 78.44 percent — NOMINEE

Legislative races

• House District 1

Scott Sandall — 51 votes – 78 percent - NOMINEE

Oakley Nelson – 14 votes — 21 percent

• House District 53

Rep. Melvin Brown – 39 votes – 63 percent - NOMINEE

John Zimmerman – 6 votes – 10 percent

Blaine Hone – 17 votes – 27 percent

• House District 54

Rep. Kraig Powell – 35 votes – 67 percent - NOMINEE

Wylder Smith – 17 votes – 32 percent

• House District 55

Scott Chew – 48 votes – 72 percent - NOMINEE

Tod Tesar – 18 votes – 27 percent

• House District 69

Christine Watkins – 21 votes – 41 percent

Bill Labrum – 23 votes – 54 percent - NOMINEE

Rep. Jerry Anderson – 2 votes – 0.03 percent

• Senate District 12

Vicki Griffeth – 25 votes – 29 percent

Sen. Dan Thatcher – 62 votes – 71 percent - NOMINEE

• Senate District 18

Lars Birkeland – 41 votes – 39 percent

Ann Millner – 66 votes – 61 percent - NOMINEE

• Senate District 26

Sen. Kevin Van Tassell – 106 votes – 70 percent - NOMINEE

Susan Hacking-Horrocks – 44 votes – 30 percent

• Senate District 28 — PRIMARY

Sen. Evan Vickers – 59 votes – 41 percent

Casey Anderson – 86 votes – 59 percent

Source: Utah Republican Party