Recent polling by Y2 Analytics for Utah Policy.com and KUTV-2 News revealed that Bob Stevenson of Layton is leading in the race for the GOP nomination to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop in Congress.
LAYTON – Davis County commissioner Bob Stevenson is leading a field of three rivals for the GOP nomination in Utah’s 1st Congressional District, according to recent polling.
In a mid-May survey by Y2 Analytics for Utah Policy.com and KUTV-2 News, Stevenson was favored by 38 percent of Utahns likely to vote in the Republican Primary on June 30.
“We are pleased with the response we have received from voters as we share our message of reigning in taxes and taking Utah conservative values back to Washington, D.C.,” Stevenson said after reviewing the polling results.
Stevenson’s rivals for the Republican nod to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop are former Utah agriculture commissioner Kerry Gibson of Ogden, Kaysville Mayor Katie Witt and businessman Blake David Moore.
In the same polling, Witt garnered the support of 26 percent of likely voters, Gibson received 20 percent and Moore got 16 percent.
The Y2 Analytics survey seems to indicate that Stevenson’s message of fiscal responsibility and tax reduction is playing well with the 1st District’s mostly conservative voters. Stevenson’s candidacy was favored by 41 percent of survey respondents that described themselves as “very conservative” and 49 percent of all male respondents.
Gibson was initially considered to be the presumptive leader in the four-way race after emerging as a strong favorite of delegates to the GOP’s nominating convention on April 25. But Gibson’s campaign strategy of focusing on endorsements from influential figures in the agriculture and business communities seems to have largely fizzled with voters.
Witt – who bills herself as “pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Trump and pro-you” — also appears to be struggling to find a political base leading up to the primary. While 32 percent of women responding to the Y2 Analytics survey said they supported Witt, only 17 percent of likely voters who described themselves as “very conservative” favored the Kaysville mayor.
The survey was conducted May 16 to 18, while Witt was in hot water with liberal groups and her own city council over a controversial country music concert planned in defiance of state coronavirus crowd restrictions.
Moore’s campaign is meanwhile working hard to overcome a name recognition deficit. After a strong showing at the GOP nominating convention, the only good news for Moore is that 28 percent of survey respondents who considered themselves “strongly conservative” view his candidacy favorably.
Moore recently launched a $100,000 advertising campaign to boost his name recognition, but that effort began after the Y2 Analytic polling was completed.
The winner of the Republican primary will face off against the winner of the Democratic primary in the November general election. The Democratic candidates on the primary ballot are Darren Parry of Logan and Jamie Cheek of Ogden.
The Y2 Analytics poll surveyed the candidate preferences of 127 likely voters in the GOP primary with an 8.7 percent margin of error.