Nailed it! A Utah-based social media analysis outfit accurately predicted the outcomes from both state conventions over the weekend, even getting the final finishing order for candidates 100% correct.
PoliticIt, which has a content-sharing partnership with Utah Policy, ranks politician's social media influence on a scale of 1-100. They correctly saw Orrin Hatch being forced into a primary against Dan Liljenquist as both had "It Scores" of 14. On the Democratic side, Scott Howell had a higher score than Pete Ashdown. Howell won the nomination outright.
In the Republican race for Governor, Gary Herbert bested Morgan Philpot to capture the nomination. Herbert also had a better "It Score" than Philpot - 19 to 17. It is interesting that Herbert's score is identical to his Democratic challenger Peter Cooke.
Utah's 1st and 3rd Congressional district races were not a surprise as Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz had significantly higher scores than their challengers.
Chris Stewart won the GOP nomination in the 2nd Congressional district. His "It Score" was surprisingly higher than 2nd place finisher David Clark.
In Utah's 4th district, Mia Love pulled an upset and captured the nomination outright over Carl Wimmer and Stephen Sandstrom. She had a slightly higher score than those two, and has a significantly higher score than her Democratic opponent Jim Matheson.


