2 unaffiliated candidates poised to win seats in Utah Legislature

SALT LAKE CITY — It hasn't happened in Utah in nearly a century — maybe even longer.

Two unaffiliated candidates are in position to win election to the Utah House of Representatives, a previously unthinkable result in an era dominated by the two-party system.

Sergio Sotelo and Patrick Belmont currently lead in their respective races as of Wednesday afternoon, and both seem headed to flip Republican-held House seats.

Belmont leads incumbent Rep. Jason Thompson, R-River Heights, by more than 1,300 votes in Cache County.

Sotelo, meanwhile, has the edge in an open seat vacated by outgoing Rep. Cheryl Acton, R-West Jordan. He leads Chris McConnehey by nearly 1,100 votes, and McConnehey has conceded the race.

Independent and third-party candidates are not uncommon, but they rarely succeed. Utah's Legislature has only one third-party lawmaker, Sen. Emily Buss of the Forward Party, but she was appointed to fill a vacancy left by a senator who switched from the GOP before resigning. Buss has yet to win a general election, and she narrowly trails a Republican challenger as she fights to keep her seat this year.

If Belmont and Sotelo maintain their leads, it would mark the first time in modern Utah political history that any independent candidate won a general election race, and possibly the first time ever that two won in the same year.

Who is Patrick Belmont?

Belmont is a professor at Utah State University. On his website, he described himself as an independent candidate and a "water scientist, energy expert, university educator, community advocate and dad."

He unsuccessfully ran for the House seat in Cache Valley in 2024. This time, it's a different story.

"I really believe that our problems are not Democratic problems or Republican problems, and we have got to get away from party politics and really start relating to one another in healthier ways," said Belmont. "That means dropping some of the labels."

He believes his success this year stems from dissatisfaction with Republicans — and a desire for an independent voice.

"I think we're facing a lot of really complex and difficult challenges, and we're going to have to be getting creative," Belmont said. "It feels like people are opening their mind to that."

Thompson, who has served in the Legislature since January 2025, did not respond to a request for comment on the results.

Who is Sergio Sotelo?

Sotelo is a longtime member of the electricians union IBEW and said he was motivated to run after being disillusioned with Utah's approach to labor organizing. That background led him to run as an unaffiliated candidate.

"We represent a broad aspect of individuals to begin with," he said. "We represent those that are registered Republicans, Democrats, independents, everything in the middle. … We don't align necessarily with one party or the other. Typically, the philosophy is we vote with our pockets."

McConnehey was running for the seat as a Republican, but told KSL he conceded the race to Sotelo after falling behind.

"I called him and told him congratulations," McConnehey said. "I'm supportive of the process. Honestly, I think (Sotelo's) going to do a wonderful job."

History of third-party lawmakers

Utah's records of party affiliation for state lawmakers are spotty, and there are several gaps in data over the years. Before Buss, the most recent legislator who wasn't a Republican or Democrat appears to be B. Spencer Young, who served for one term.

According to the state's legislative roster, Young was a "Forward" representative in 1933, although a separate listing on the Legislature's website doesn't include a party affiliation. But other records, including an archived 1933 edition of the Salt Lake Telegram, list B. Spencer Young as a Salt Lake County Democrat.

He was one of several lawmakers who played a key role in Utah's effort to repeal Prohibition-era liquor laws, according to a 1962 BYU study. An obituary also said he was the great-grandson of former church President Brigham Young.

In 1935, Time Magazine interviewed B. Spencer Young's son, Brigham Spencer Young, in Manhattan as he left for a church mission in Europe. Time described him as "not too pious," saying the younger Young admitted to skipping a religious meeting and going to the Hollywood Restaurant instead.

"I've been on binges, of course, and smoked and done things like that, but that doesn't mean damnation for me," he told the magazine.

All this to say? It's tough to state exactly what Utah's history with third-party lawmakers is. Adam Brown, a BYU political science professor, said no Utah legislator has been without a party affiliation since at least 1934, though he agreed that exact data is hard to come by.