UPDATE 7: So the final tally for the GOP senate nomination is, per Dave Catanese:
Tim Bridgewater: 57.2%
Mike Lee: 42.7%
Since Bridgewater failed to clear 60%, that means there wil be a primary on June 22nd, same as with UT-02 for the Dems.
UPDATE 6: WOW. Jim Matheson 55%, Claudia Wright 45%. There will be a primary.
UPDATE 5: It’s been very hard to get news out of the UT Dem convention, but I suggest following the #utdem hashtag on Twitter. It looks like results may be announced soon.
UPDATE 4: It’s official – Bob Bennett won’t make it to the third round of voting:
Tim Bridgewater: 37.42%
Mike Lee: 35.99%
Bob Bennett: 26.59%
Bennett picked up almost no votes after the first round. Between Lee and Bridgewater, I have no idea whom to root for, though.
UPDATE 3: Reid Wilson says Bennett will not advance to the third round. Mike Allen says he may run a write-in campaign.
UPDATE 2: So the top three candidates advance to the second round, meaning Bennett barely survives – for another hour or so. According to the timestamp on this post, second-round results are expected around 5:30pm Eastern.
Also, over at the Dem convention, it appears that no voting has taken place yet, but on Twitter, it sounds like there may be a surprising level of enthusiasm for Jim Matheson’s challenger, Claudia Wright. She needs 40% to force a primary.
UPDATE: The first round of results are in:
Lee 982 – 28.75%
Bridgewater 917 – 26.84%
Bennett 885 – 25.91%
Eagar 541 – 15.84%
Cook 49 – 1.43%
Fabiano 22 – .64%
Freidbaum 16 – .47%
Chiu 4 – .12%
Today the Utah GOP will be having their statewide convention for the U.S. Senate nomination. The Salt Lake Tribue has this explanation of how it will unfold. Note that all times are Mountain Crazy Time:
Schedule reminder: Convention kicks off at 10 a.m., and the roughly 7-minute Senate speeches start at 10:45 a.m. They will speak in this order – Bridgewater, Bennett, Friedbaum, Fabiano, Cook, Chiu, Lee and Eagar. After that the first round, balloting will commence; expect to start voting around 11:50 a.m. That brings us to the final three candidates.
The second round of balloting will come around 1:40 p.m. after the speeches for governor (who doesn’t want to hear what SuperDell has to say), and the three congressional districts (1st – Bishop vs. Ridgeway; 2nd – Philpot vs.Walter vs. Eliason; 3rd Chaffetz vs. nobody)
If a third round of balloting is necessary (count on it), that would take place after the discussion of platform changes and resolutions, estimated at 3 p.m., but hey, you know how these things get pushed back.
So the first round of voting should start just before 2pm Eastern.
Results: Trib | UT GOP | Twitter
Live video:
Any predictions, before voting starts?
P.S. Johnny Longtorso reminds us in comments that the UT Dems are also holding their convention today. The one thing to watch is whether Rep. Jim Matheson (UT-02) will get a primary challenge. Voting starts around 3:45pm Eastern.