Candidates who are gathering signatures to get on the ballot are running up against their deadlines to secure a spot outside of conventions.
The deadline to turn in signatures for several county candidates was Monday, while statewide and multi-county candidates are next week.
So far, only a handful of candidates have turned in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, while several candidates submitted their signatures for verification ahead of the deadline.
As of Tuesday, U.S. Senate candidate Mitt Romney had turned in more than 43,000 signatures. So far, just over 11,000 have been verified by the elections office. None of the other federal candidates who have declared to gather signatures have had signatures verified.
Signature gathering will play a major role in some of the most hotly contested state legislative races:
SD2 – Two Democrats have turned in signatures in the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Jim Dabakis, but not enough yet to qualify. Salt Lake City Council member Derek Kitchen has submitted more than 1,500 signatures, while Jennifer Plumb has turned in more than 1,300. Assuming they get the needed 2,000 signatures, the remaining 5 Democratic candidates will be vying to make the ballot at the convention.
SD8 – Two Democrats, Kathleen Riebe, and Kathie Allen have declared their intent to gather signatures, but have not yet had any verified.
SD11 – Two of the three Republicans aiming to replace the retiring Sen. Howard Stephenson, Rep. LaVar Christensen, and Delania Tonks, intended to gather signatures for a place on the ballot, but have not yet submitted them. Rep. Dan McCay is pushing to get on the ballot through the convention only.
SD15 – There are two Republicans hoping to replace Sen. Margaret Dayton who is resigning for health reasons in June. Rep. Keith Grover has already submitted the required 2,000 signatures and will be on the primary ballot no matter what happens in the convention. Emily Ellsworth has not yet submitted signatures.
SD17 – There’s a three-way race for the GOP nomination to replace Sen. Pete Knudson. So far, only Rep. Scott Sandall has submitted signatures, but he’s still short of the 2,000 signature threshold.
SD26 – Four Republicans are pushing to win the nomination in this seat that’s open because of Sen. Kevin Van Tassell’s retirement. Ronald Winterton has qualified for the primary ballot with 2,000 signatures, while Brian Gorum and Jack Rubin are short of the needed signatures.
HD1 – Joel Ferry has qualified for the primary while Kris Udy is using the convention to get on the ballot.
HD4 – Republican Dan Johnson has secured a spot on the ballot while Greg Merrell still needs more than 200 signatures to qualify.
HD9 – Calvin Musselman is on the ballot through signature gathering. Two other Republicans are using the convention to qualify.
HD19 – Rep. Ray Ward has the 1,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot. He is being challenged by fellow Republican Phill Wright.
HD20 – Republicans Melissa Ballard and Glen Jenkins have both qualified for the primary ballot to replace Rep. Becky Edwards.
HD24 – Three of the six Democrats competing to replace Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck have turned in the 1,000 signatures to advance to the primary. Jen Dailey-Provost, Igor Limanski, and Darin Mann have qualified, while Jacquelyn Orton is still about 70 signatures short.
HD27 – There are six Republicans hoping to replace Rep. Michael Kennedy, who is running for U.S. Senate. Only one, Brady Brammer, has turned in enough signatures to move to the primary election.
HD40 – Democrat Stephanie Pitcher, who is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Lynn Hemingway, will be on the primary ballot because she submitted the 1,000 required signatures.
HD65 – Rep. Francis Gibson is facing a challenge for the GOP nomination from Scott Neilson, but he can’t be eliminated at the convention because he submitted enough signatures to qualify.
