Utah State Senator Nate Blouin sits down with Utah Political Watch to make his case for the Democratic nomination in Utah's 1st Congressional District. In a wide-ranging conversation, Blouin explains his "top vs. bottom" theory of the race, his pledge to drop out if a campaign-commissioned poll shows him trailing fellow progressives Liban Mohammed or Michael Farrell, and why he thinks he's the only candidate built to beat Ben McAdams.

We also dig into the Stratos data center fight in Box Elder County, his legislative record in a Republican supermajority, the challenges of winning a general election as a progressive in a district where Democrats make up just a quarter of registered voters, and what the redrawn congressional map means for Utah.

Bryan breaks down Wednesday night's first and only televised debate in Utah's new First Congressional District Democratic primary. Four candidates, one stage, and one frontrunner who just needed to walk out standing. He did.

The four Democrats running for Utah's 1st Congressional District take the stage Wednesday night for the only televised debate of the primary, and Bryan has thoughts, mostly skeptical ones, about the format.

He breaks down the dynamics and strategy: why Nate Blouin, Liban Mohamed and Michael Farrell all need to attack Ben McAdams while simultaneously fighting each other for the progressive lane. Bryan also explains why Blouin's plan to commission a poll and drop out if he's not the top progressive is, in his view, a political stunt—especially since the ballots are already printed.

Plus: why the Kevin O'Leary/Box Elder data center has become a surprisingly potent issue heading into the primary, what it means for Senate President Stuart Adams' re-election race, and why Speaker Mike Schultz is trying to distance himself as fast as possible.

Bryan Schott sits down with Liban Mohamed, a 27-year-old running in the Democratic primary for Utah's new 1st Congressional District. Mohamed made waves at the Utah Democratic state convention, winning 51% of the vote to secure the top spot on the primary ballot—defeating former Congressman Ben McAdams.

They discuss Mohamed's working-class policy agenda, his call for a prohibition on hyperscale data centers in water-stressed areas like Utah, the Islamophobic backlash his campaign has faced, running as a Gen Z candidate, and why he believes the anger he's hearing from voters across the district signals a change election is coming.

In this episode:

John Curtis for governor? Host Bryan Schott digs into the Politico report that U.S. Sen. John Curtis is exploring a run for governor in 2028. Curtis has name ID, money, and nothing to lose (he doesn't have to give up his Senate seat to run). Bryan sizes up the emerging field, including Jason Chaffetz, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, and Speaker Mike Schultz—and explains why Curtis's entry reshapes the whole race.

The Box Elder data center fallout. Kevin O'Leary is losing it. Bryan updates listeners on the MIDA-backed data center project in Box Elder County, the viral misinformation spreading about Gov. Spencer Cox, and why the people pushing this project don't seem to have a tenant lined up yet.

Gerrymandering, Prop 4, and the Blake Moore primary. Bryan explains why the real stakes of the Prop. 4 fight are in the legislative maps, not the congressional ones, and why the Moore vs. Lisonbee primary could be a bellwether for how angry GOP voters actually are about redistricting.

Plus, a candidate drops out of a state school board race over a fight about...a Facebook page, and Salt Lake City Council member Eva Lopez Chavez is out after buying a house outside her district.

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Utah Senate President Stuart Adams is under fire for some questionable donations to his political action committee, and he's not answering a single question about it.

This week Utah Political Watch reported five individuals and companies with deep financial ties to MIDA (the Military Installation Development Authority)—the powerful unelected state agency that Adams has chaired since 2008—collectively wrote $135,000 in checks to his leadership PAC on a single day, just one week after MIDA voted to approve the massive "Wonder Valley" / Project Stratos data center in Box Elder County.

Those checks were the five largest donations in the history of Adams' PAC. And Adams has already transferred the largest sum ever from that PAC to his own campaign account, as he faces his toughest reelection primary yet.

Rep. Trevor Lee had a very, very bad week. He lost the Davis County GOP convention vote to Bob Stevenson. That came a few days after a website dropped with serious fraud allegations from two former employers. One features a signed confession of check fraud. The other involves explosive claims that Lee tried to use his legislative office to help steer a federal contract at Hill Air Force Base in exchange for retiring a $93,000 personal debt he owed to his employer.

The CD1 Democratic primary is getting more complicated by the day. What started as a two-person race is now a likely four- or five-way contest heading into convention weekend. Why Ben McAdams is the clear frontrunner—cash, name ID, and a district that's not as progressive as some assume—and why old online posts from Nate Blouin attacking the LDS church could be a serious liability in November, regardless of what happens in the primary.

Plus: Celeste Maloy qualifies for the CD3 primary via signatures while Phil Lyman races the clock; the legislature's investigation of Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen and what it's really about; Ken Ivory's close call in HD39; a preview of the state Republican and Democratic conventions; and Bryan's evening at the Bruce Springsteen show in Phoenix.

In this episode:

• a last-minute U.S.-Iran ceasefire
• the beginning of convention season
• Utah's looming voter privacy rollback
• Sen. Mike Lee's rumored AG buzz
• and the subscriber-exclusive debut of the Utah Political Watch Race Ratings system.

📰 Support journalist-owned, journalist-operated independent media at UtahPolitics.news.

Sponsor the show: Got deep pockets and a masochistic love of Utah politics? Sponsor this podcast and support our coverage of this slow-motion train wreck. Hit us up: podcast@utahpolitics.news.

Stalk us on social media:

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