Special Session with Bryan Schott

Stuart Adams just became the first sitting Utah Senate President to lose a primary since 2002, and the shockwaves are still reverberating across Capitol Hill. The man who ran the Utah Senate like a personal kingdom got sent home by the very voters he forgot to listen to, and Ben McAdams, the newly minted Democratic nominee in Utah's 1st Congressional District, has some thoughts about that.
McAdams joined the show fresh off a convincing primary win with more than 50% of the vote, clearing the majority threshold in a multi-candidate field , and he didn't hold back.
He called out the Utah GOP for getting "fat and lazy," using gerrymandering to insulate themselves from accountability, and then acting shocked when voters finally had enough. He draws a sharp distinction between the Stratos data center disaster and his own work with a clean-energy data center project in southern Utah that spent six years going through the public process the right way.
McAdams also talks about why he went through the convention process even though he didn't have to, what it means to actually listen to voters instead of just performing for them, and why winning CD1 in November is going to require building a coalition that goes well beyond the Democratic base in a district that's only 25% registered Democrat.
Plus, host Bryan Schott breaks down why Stuart Adams lost and how that might have other Republicans up for election in November freaked out, and what's next for Phil Lyman after the beatdown he suffered at the hands of Celeste Maloy in the primary.
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With Utah's June 23 primary just days away, Bryan Schott breaks down the biggest storylines:
ICE detention warehouse update: New NYT reporting says DHS is looking to offload the SLC warehouse it overpaid for.
Trump endorses Moore, Malloy, Kennedy: Predictable picks spark a meltdown among Phil Lyman supporters who'd convinced themselves Trump would back Lyman.
CD3: Malloy vs. Lyman: Why this race is closer than it looks: 60% of the district has never seen Malloy on a ballot, Lyman's base is more energized, but his campaign is missing basic blocking-and-tackling — including a still-unfiled federal financial disclosure.
Stuart Adams' money machine: A breakdown of how his own leadership PAC funneled $110K into his own primary, plus campaign-cash spending on a steakhouse dinner in NYC.
Legislative primary cash flood: $1.5M+ raised across 22 contested races.
Open primary mechanics: How non-Democrats can still request a ballot in the CD1 Democratic primary, and why Republicans could "mess with" that race if they organized.
Trump vs. vote-by-mail: Trump's Truth Social attack on Utah's mail ballots, and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson's pointed rebuttal.
The press-pass lawsuit: New GRAMA numbers: the Legislature has spent $428,000 so far on outside lawyers fighting Bryan's First Amendment case...and counting.
Mark your calendar: Live election night coverage Tuesday, June 23 at 7:30 PM with David Nir of The Downballot.
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With just two weeks to go until Utah's June 23 primary elections, Bryan Schott breaks down the $2.8 million in outside spending flooding Utah's congressional races, flags which incumbents are actually in danger, and explains the alarming background of Utah County's newly appointed deputy elections director.
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Utah 1st Congressional District Democratic candidate Ben McAdams joins Utah Political Watch for a wide-ranging interview ahead of the June 23 primary election. McAdams, a former state senator, Salt Lake County Mayor, and one-term congressman, makes his case for why his track record on delivering results sets him apart from his three primary opponents.We discuss his take on finishing second at the state Democratic convention, the tension between his centrist brand and a more progressive primary base, his financial disclosure showing ownership stakes in AI data center companies, his opposition to the Stratos data center in Box Elder County, how he'd approach oversight of the Trump administration, and the issues he says have been ignored under Utah's previous gerrymandered congressional map, including the proposed ICE detention center on Salt Lake City's west side.For more coverage of Utah politics, subscribe at UtahPolitics.news.
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Ballots hit Utah mailboxes this week, and Senate President Stuart Adams immediately sent a letter demanding Kevin O'Leary shrink the controversial Stratos data center project by 75%, the same project Adams approved as MIDA chairman. We break down why that's a panic move, not a policy move, and what it says about his primary election chances.Nate Blouin dropped his internal poll in the CD1 Democratic primary. We dig into the top-line numbers and the internals, and explain why the race is still wide open despite McAdams leading at 37%.A shadowy new super PAC running AI attack ads against Blake Moore traces back to the home address of Senator Mike Lee's top political strategist, who wouldn't deny being involved.Plus: Which debate moderator actually did his job? (Hint: it's not a journalist).
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Michael Farrell, a Salt Lake City tax attorney and progressive Democrat running in Utah's newly redrawn 1st Congressional District, joins the show to make his case for why he's the right candidate in a crowded Democratic primary.Farrell discusses his personal motivation for running — his mother's terminal illness and $150,000 hospital bill in 2009 — and why he's focused on detailed policy proposals rather than progressive branding. He breaks down his approach to taxing the wealthy (closing loopholes, new rates on multimillionaires and billionaires), his support for a complete ban on data centers in water-stressed areas like Utah, and how he plans to build bipartisan coalitions while holding firm on core progressive values.
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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.
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