CACHE COUNTY – With less than a week remaining in the filing period for a special election slated for mid-January, only two candidates have emerged to replace Barbara Tidwell on the Cache County Council.
As it stands now, JoAnn Bennett and Jeffrey Wallentine will compete in the special election to be held by the Cache County Republic Party on Saturday, Jan. 17 at Ridgeline High School in Millville.
The filing period for candidate to replace Tidwell, who resigned in early December of 2025, has been open since December 9 and will remain open until 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 9.
Qualified candidates must reside in Cache County District 2, according to Natalie Levi, the chair of the Cache County Republican Party.
That area encompasses portions of the Adams and Bridger neighborhoods, as well as a corridor-stretching north to the Logan-Cache Airport, in the northwest portion of Logan City.
The GOP Special Election will cover the remaining portion of Tidwell’s unexpired term until December 2026. All candidates who would be interested serving out the remaining years of her term, ending in 2028, must apply through the Cache County Clerk’s office before January 8 for the election in November.
Cache County Clerk Bryson Behm acknowledges that the process for a special election under the current circumstances is confusing.
“State code has a whole bunch of different situations,” he explains, “depending on the timelines when people resign.”
Tidwell was elected to her third term of office, from 2025 until 2028, in November of 2024.
“While the Republican Party is responsible for nomination an individual to fill out the remainder of the current term,” Behm said, “the seat has more than two year left.
“Since the vacancy occurred prior to the candidate declaration period, an election for the two year term will also take place.”
Under Utah State Code 20A-1-508 (4)(b), the filing period for the county election in 2026 will be open from 8 a.m. on Jan. 2 to 5 p.m. on Jan. 8, 2026 for qualified political party candidates; and from 8 a.m. on Jan. 2 to 5 p.m. on April 27, 2026 for registered political party candidates.
The qualification and the application format for the Jan. 17 GOP special election can be found at https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title20A/Chapter9/C20A-9_1800010118000101.pdf
Potential candidates should submit their applications electronically to Levi at chaircachegop@gop.com on or before the Jan. 9 deadline. After that, candidates should mail mail a signed paper application to Cache GOP, P.O. Box 43, Logan UT 84323.