LOGAN – County Republican delegates failed to resolve the issue of who will permanently replace former Cache County Attorney Taylor Sorensen at the 2026 Nominating Convention on Saturday, April 11.
Instead, the local GOP forwarded the names of two candidates to be included on the ballot of the upcoming Republican Primary in June.
After eliminating local attorney Chris Daines in the first round of convention balloting, Interim County Attorney Dane Murray and candidate J. Brett Chambers both failed to achieve the needed 70 percent of delegate votes to earn the convention nomination in the second round.
Murray’s chances to retain the post of county attorney were boosted by being introduced by the popular County Sheriff Chad Jensen. As he had throughout the campaign since January, the incumbent interim attorney based his candidacy on prior experience.
In contrast to his opponents who practice primarily administrative law, Murray boasted that his top priority is public safety, with the Cache County Attorney’s Office prosecuting about 3,000 cases annually.
Murray also claimed a strong relationship with the local law enforcement community and the endorsement of the Cache Valley Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, an organization representing 168 law enforcement officers in Cache County.
In his brief remarks to convention delegates, Chambers countered that Cache County was poorly served by the “revolving door” of turnover in the County Attorney’s Office over the past five years. He also claimed the support and endorsement of more then 30 local lawyers.
Meanwhile, Daines discussed the philosophy and qualifications that should guide the process of hiring an attorney. He also emphasized that part of the role of the county attorney should be to “root out corruption” in the county government.
In the first round of delegate voting for county attorney, Murray garnered 55 percent of 489 ballots cast, Chambers won 33 percent and Daines earned 12 percent.
With Daines out of the running, the remaining candidates split the vote in the second round of balloting, with Murray getting nerly 60 percent and Chambers earning more than 40 percent of the ballots cast.
That balloting left the final decision about the county attorney up to the voters in the Republican Primary in June.
In the race for the House District 5 seat in the Utah Legislature, county delegates overwhelmingly endorsed incumbent State Rep. Casey Snider (R-Paradise) as their candidate in the upcoming primary.
The convention also gave its blessing to local GOP candidates who are running uncontested until they face Democratic challengers during the midterm election in November.
Those include Bryson Behm for county clerk; Matthew Funk for county auditor; Chad Jensen for county sheriff; George Daines for county executive; JoAnn Bennett for the Logan District 2 seat on the county council; Sandi Goodlander for the Logan District 3 seat on the county council; Mark Hurd for the Northeast District 5 seat on the county council; and Kathryn Beus for Southeast District 7 seat on the county council.
State races with uncontested candidates include Rep. Mike Petersen (R-North Logan) for Utah State House District 2 and Rep. Jason Thompson (R-River Heights) for Utah State House District 5, although both will face Democratic candidates in November.
The Cache County Republican Nominating Convention was held at Ridgeline High School in Millville.
The balloting in the GOP primary is slated for Tuesday, June 23.