For many Utahns campaigning to be elected to public office this year, Saturday could be the day their political careers begin to take off — or come to an end.

About a dozen candidates are currently vying to represent Utah’s new left-leaning 1st Congressional District. But not all of them will appear on June primary ballots — state Democratic and Republican delegates will meet Saturday to narrow the field.

From the Beehive State’s four congressional district races to competitions for seats representing multiple counties in Utah’s GOP-supermajority Legislature, some of the contests at this weekend’s nominating conventions are higher stakes — or have attracted more intrigue — than others.

As thousands of delegates elected by their neighbors last month flock to both the Republican convention at Utah Valley University in Orem and Democrats’ convention at Jordan High School in Sandy, these are the races to watch:

A crowded 1st Congressional District race

A handful of the 12 candidates who have filed to run for the new congressional district in Salt Lake County have already guaranteed their spot in the primary election by gathering signatures.

The last Democrat to represent Utah in Congress, Ben McAdams, has surpassed the 7,000-signature threshold. So have state Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, tax attorney Michael Farrell and tech policy analyst Liban Mohamed.

So far, the other Democratic candidates — Eva Lopez Chavez and Luis Villareal — have not reached that mark. If they cannot deliver enough signatures to the Salt Lake County clerk’s office to verify by the end of the day Friday, their fate rests with delegates.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary election in June is expected to go on to secure the congressional seat in November.

McAdams has so far raised the most money — approximately $1.5 million, which is three times that of Blouin, his closest competitor.

With the backing of prominent progressives on the national stage, like former presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Blouin had been considered one of the favorites to upset McAdams in the race.

But Blouin’s campaign took a hit last week when Punchbowl News reported on a slew of crass online posts he made over a decade ago. The 36-year-old’s previous comments made light of sexual violence, used slurs for disabled people and denigrated members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Friday morning, the Salt Lake County Democratic Progressive Caucus withdrew its endorsement of Blouin and endorsed Mohamed instead, who garnered 63% of the caucus vote in the final voting round.

Mohamed has also been endorsed by the Utah Progressive Caucus, as well as by former state Sen. Derek Kitchen and House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City Council member Lopez Chavez has also become a subject of controversy in recent days.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday that four prominent women in Democratic politics — three of whom are elected officials — accuse Lopez Chavez of restraining them during what they considered unwanted sexual advances.

Both Blouin and Lopez Chavez have said they intend to stay in the race.

Republican delegates will vote Saturday on who they will back in the race, too. Riley Owen has collected enough signatures to appear on the primary ballot, but Stone Fonua, Jonathan Lopez and Dave Robinson have not gathered any.

Members of Congress face intraparty challenges

All three of Utah’s current congressional representatives running for reelection have at least one primary challenger, and two — Rep. Blake Moore in the new 2nd Congressional District and Rep. Celeste Maloy in the 3rd Congressional District — have enough signatures to make the primary.

Rep. Mike Kennedy, running in the 4th Congressional District, is not collecting signatures, but his intraparty opponents have considerably less name recognition than those of his colleagues. While Kennedy reported raising over $800,000 so far this election cycle, other Republican candidates in the race have not reported raising any money.

Moore’s only Republican challenger is state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield. Lisonbee has not collected signatures, so she must win delegates’ support Saturday — and she likely will. When he ran for reelection in 2024, Moore lost 45% to 55% at convention, but went on to handily win that primary with over 70% of votes.

The incumbent Moore — who has the backing of President Donald Trump and senior GOP members of Congress — is the first and only Utahn to be elected to a congressional leadership position, per his website.

Much of Lisonbee’s campaign, meanwhile, has focused on blaming Moore for Republicans likely losing a Utah seat in Congress — he co-chaired Better Boundaries, the group that spearheaded the 2018 ballot initiative that sought to create an independent redistricting commission and do away with partisan gerrymandering.

Moore has called that criticism “silly,” and said he agrees with Lisonbee and the rest of the Legislature that a district judge overstepped in ordering the adoption of the new congressional boundaries.

In the 3rd District, Maloy currently faces three Republicans — David Harris, Phil Lyman and Tyler Murset — none of whom have gathered enough signatures to make the primary. Maloy has greatly outraised her competitors, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

The most well-known of the bunch is Lyman, a former state lawmaker who ran against Gov. Spencer Cox in 2024. With the backing of an ultraconservative wing of the party, Lyman repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims of election fraud throughout and after losing that race.

Seeking to unseat legislative leaders

Utah’s two top state lawmakers both have Republicans fighting to push them out of the Legislature. Delegates will vote Saturday on whether they want to keep House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams, although both have collected enough signatures to make the primary.

And while Schultz has one GOP opponent, Adams is facing three.

Stephanie Hollist, who also secured a spot on the ballot by gathering signatures, recently stepped down as general counsel at Weber State University. She has spent more money than Adams’ ahead of convention, $57,669 to $37,760.

Adams’ two other opponents include a former lawyer for the Legislature, Braden Hess, and Jennifer Garner. Neither collected signatures.

The House speaker and Senate president have led a power struggle between Utah’s branches of government in the aftermath of the Legislature’s loss in the state’s high-profile congressional redistricting case.

They attempted to change the state constitution to remove voters’ lawmaking power via initiative, and at the Davis County GOP convention last week, Schultz threatened another constitutional amendment “to help us get our judiciary back in line.”

Adams was also at the center of multiple controversies last year.

The Tribune first reported that the Layton lawmaker initiated a change to Utah law that ended up helping a relative facing child rape charges avoid additional jail time and having to register as a sex offender. Adams denied any wrongdoing.

And The Utah Investigative Journalism Project reported that Adams may have benefited from selling land to the Utah Department of Transportation for a highway expansion. Adams declined to respond to questions for the story.

Longtime senator vs. a freshman representative

Utah Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, has been in the Legislature since 2013, and is one of the more conservative members of the Senate — he introduced the state’s near-total abortion trigger ban in 2020 (abortion is currently legal up to 18 weeks while a challenge of the blocked law makes its way through the courts).

First-term Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, wants his 18th Senate District seat.

With a career in tech sales, Fiefia has become best-known for pushing the state to regulate artificial intelligence. Many of those efforts have failed in the face of opposition from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Fiefia, whose campaign has received thousands of dollars from activist groups pushing for more AI oversight, has outspent McCay nearly six to one ahead of convention. According to the state’s disclosures website, Fiefia has spent $29,042 while McCay has spent $5,126.

The lawmakers will also face Tracie Halvorsen, who was part of the effort to undo Utah’s new state flag — the shift to which was championed by McCay.

None of the candidates gathered signatures.

Former congressman returns to politics

After nearly two decades in Congress, Rob Bishop retired several years ago. He now is looking to make a Capitol comeback — this time, however, in Salt Lake City.

Rep. Matt Gwynn, R-Plain City, asked Bishop to replace him prior to announcing that he planned to leave office to help care for his daughter who was struck by a truck last year.

Bishop already has 16 years in the Legislature on his resumé, having served in the House from 1978 to 1994. He spent two of those years as House speaker.

One other Republican, Brad Barrowes, will compete Saturday for the seat. Neither collected signatures.

Note to readers, April 24, 2:30 p.m. • This story has been updated to include new details about which candidates have collected enough signatures, reporting about Eva Lopez Chavez and new endorsements.