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Early returns show democrats may flip three seats on the Utah state school board

Eight of the state school board’s 15 seats were up for grabs ahead of Election Day — but only four of those races were contested.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah State Board of Education Building in Salt Lake City, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah State Board of Education Building in Salt Lake City, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

By https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/sltrib/3ab0da87-a93f-43be-9630-295049d554b0.png Carmen Nesbitt
 | Nov. 3, 2026, 9:09 p.m.
| Updated: 9:40 p.m.

Eight Utah state school board seats were up for grabs this November, and half of those races were decided ahead of Tuesday.

Returns as of 9:30 p.m. show that three of the Utah State Board of Education’s 15 seats may move to democrats, if the results stick. That would give democrats a total of five seats on the republican supermajority board.

Here’s what the unofficial returns show for the four competitive races:

District 1

Incumbent Republican Jennie Earl leads Democrat challenger Cathy Callow-Heusser with 64.24% of the vote to Callow-Heusser’s 35.66%. District 1 encompasses parts of Cache, Rich, Box Elder, Summit and Morgan Counties.

District 7

Newcomer Democrat James Martin leads with 60.31% against Gov. Spencer Cox appointee Erin Longacre, a Republican. This district covers Sandy, Draper, Cottonwood Heights and Alta.

District 8

Newcomer Democrat Araueni Olivares is ahead of Republican Nicole McDermott, also a newcomer, with 53.82% of the vote. District 8 encompasses parts of Taylorsville, Kearns and West Jordan.

District 11

Newcomer Republican Tracy Nuttall leads Democrat newcomer Lacey Peterson with 55.45% of the vote. District 11 includes parts of Utah County, Lehi, American Fork, Alpine and Bluffdale.

Uncontested races

Four seats were already decided ahead of Tuesday. They include:

District 2 (parts of Weber County, Ogden and Eden): This seat goes to Democrat Kacee Weaver after incumbent Joseph Kerry resigned and withdrew his bid for reelection in September.

District 4 (Davis County, North Salt Lake, Farmington and Bountiful): Incumbent Republican Leann Wood retains her seat after Democrat challenger Heather Dopp failed to win the support of her party during convention.

District 5 (parts of West Valley City, Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and Murray): Incumbent Sarah Reale, a Democrat, will keep her seat after Republican challenger Michael Clara dropped out of the race in May.

District 14 (parts of Beaver, Sevier, Iron, Emery, Utah, Millard, Juab, Carbon, Sanpete, and Grand Counties): This seat will go to newcomer Republican Linda Hanks after incumbent Republican Emily Green announced in January that she would not seek reelection.

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