With control of the House on the line, a redrawn district in Utah has presented Democrats with a rare opportunity to pick up a seat.

Next week’s Democratic primary in the blue-leaning 1st District has become a proving ground for the party’s progressive wing, represented by state Sen. Nate Blouin, tax attorney Michael Farrell and tech policy expert Liban Mohamed. Former Rep. Ben McAdams, who is leading in most public polls, occupies the center lane in the race for the Salt Lake City-anchored seat.

But the June 23 primaries in the Beehive State will also test what kind of Republican nominees voters in a pair of reconfigured deep-red districts are seeking. 

“Each of these races tells a different story about the state of politics in Utah,’’ said Renae Cowley, a Republican lobbyist. 

Utah’s new map — selected by a state judge last fall after rejecting a proposal approved by GOP state legislators — has reshaped all four of the state’s congressional districts. Republican freshman Mike Kennedy, who currently represents the 3rd District, toggled to the new 4th after the current occupant of that seat, Republican Burgess Owens, opted to retire.

In the new 2nd District, third-term Rep. Blake D. Moore faces a challenge from state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee. And in the 3rd District, Rep. Celeste Maloy is working to stave off former state Rep. Phil Lyman. 

In both contests, which have become increasingly acrimonious and drawn an influx of spending, the winner of the Republican primary will be heavily favored to prevail in November.

3rd District

A former lawyer specializing in land and water issues, Maloy spent more than four years on Capitol Hill as a legislative counsel to her GOP predecessor, former Rep. Chris Stewart, a fiscal conservative and a frequent critic of big government. When Stewart left the House to care for his ailing wife in 2023, Maloy won a special election to succeed him.

She won the regular primary a year later against Army Special Forces veteran Colby C. Jenkins by a scant 176 votes out of more than 107,000 cast.

Maloy, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement, has emphasized her work on issues important to her rural district, noting that she sits on both the Natural Resources and Appropriations committees. 

Maloy and Lyman have policy platforms that are “virtually indistinguishable,” Cowley said. “I call them two conservatives with a capital C, just in a different font.”

Both are strong supporters of Trump and favor limited government. But Lyman, who served six terms in the legislature and made an unsuccessful run for governor two years ago, has pledged to bring greater transparency to the process of constructing data centers, which has become a key issue in a state starved for water.

He’s tried to paint Maloy as a Washington insider propped up by Stewart, her former boss. 

“As soon as this race started … all of the establishment apparatus [has] jumped to her defense, and is spending tons of money right now,’’ he said. “I definitely fall more on the populist side of the ledger.”

Maloy enjoys a cash advantage over her challenge: She’s brought in about $1.2 million through early June, compared with $39,0000 for Lyman, a sum that includes a $10,000 candidate loan.

Maloy has also received a boost from Defending Our Values, a super PAC funded by the AI behemoth Anthropic and led by Stewart. The PAC, which backs “reasonable” regulations on the industry, has spent $963,000 in support of Maloy through June 11, according to the Transformer, a website that tracks AI spending in campaigns.

“A former congressman [is] still basically trying to run his office while he’s also lobbying that same office, and that feels very establishment to me,’’ Lyman said.

2nd District

Redistricting not only reshaped the state’s 2nd District, but it’s now become central to the race to represent it. 

Moore came to Congress in 2021 with a desire to build bridges across partisan divides. He became vice chair of the House Republican Conference in 2023, after Mike Johnson was elected speaker, and has cast his role in leadership as a benefit to the state.

But Lisonbee has repeatedly attacked Moore for his past support of the Better Boundaries initiative, which successfully championed a ballot initiative known as Prop 4 that created an independent redistricting commission and banned partisan gerrymandering. Last year, a judge ruled that the congressional map used in 2024 violated the voter-approved anti-gerrymandering initiative.

“Blake [supported] Prop 4 that enacted an unelected and unaccountable commission in code,’’ Lisonbee said in a recent debate, accusing the incumbent of gifting “a congressional seat to the Democrats in Utah.”

Moore said his support for the initiative reflected the prevailing view at the time “in red states, blue states, purple states” that anti-gerrymandering measures were needed. 

“We have to decide going forward, right from 2030 on … how our state’s going to address this,’’ he said during the same debate. “Is this going to be … a race to the bottom, or are we going to rise above this? I’ve maintained my very specific positions on the state legislature having the [authority].”

Moore has the all-important support of Trump as well as Johnson and former House Freedom Caucus Chair Jim Jordan. Lisonbee received endorsements from most of her Republican colleagues in the state House. 

Nick Eskow contributed to this report.