2010 United States Senate election in Utah
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:ElectionsUT The 2010 United States Senate election in Utah took place on November 2, 2010, along with other midterm elections throughout the United States. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bob Bennett was seeking re-election to a fourth term, but lost renomination at the Republican Party's state convention. Mike Lee proceeded to win the Republican primary against Tim Bridgewater and the general election against Democrat Sam Granato. As of 2026, this is the most recent U.S. Senate election in which a political party held the seat after denying renomination to the incumbent senator.
Process
The filing period for candidates began March 12, 2010 and ended March 19, 2010. Candidates who had not filed by that date cannot appear on the ballot in November. Eleven candidates filed with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.[1]
Both the Utah State Democratic Party and the Utah State Republican Party held statewide caucus meetings on March 23, 2010. Caucus meetings are grouped by legislative district and divided by precincts with each precinct electing delegates who attend their respective party's state nominating convention.
The Utah State Democratic and Republican Parties held their conventions on May 8, 2010. At the Republican convention, incumbent Senator Bob Bennett finished third in balloting among delegates and was eliminated from the race. Business owner Tim Bridgewater finished first and attorney Mike Lee finished second, but Bridgewater did not receive enough votes (he needed at least 60 percent) to avoid a primary election runoff against Lee.[2] At the Democratic convention, delegates nominated businessman Sam Granato, who received 77.5 percent of the vote.[3]
In the Republican primary election, held on June 22, 2010, Lee became the Republican nominee by winning 51 percent of the vote against Bridgewater's 49 percent.[4]
The general election was held on November 2, 2010. Lee won the election with 62 percent of the vote to Granato's 33 percent and 6 percent for Constitution Party candidate Scott Bradley.[5]
Republican nomination
Convention
Candidates
On Ballot
- Bob Bennett, incumbent U.S. Senator[6]
- Tim Bridgewater, businessman and candidate for UT-02 in 2002 and 2004[7]
- David Chiu
- Merrill Cook, former U.S. Representative[8]
- Cherilyn Eagar, businesswoman[7]
- Leonard Fabiano
- Jeremy Friedbaum
- Mike Lee, attorney[9]
Withdrew
- Mark Shurtleff State Attorney General[7]
Endorsements
The following are endorsements made before the convention
Bennett
Template:Endorsements box
Polling
| Poll Source | Dates Administered | Bob Bennett | Tim Bridgewater | Merrill Cook | Cherilyn Eagar | Mike Lee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmussen Reports[10] | April 8, 2010 | 14% | 14% | 6% | 4% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 37% |
| Mason Dixon[11] | April 22–25, 2010 | 16% | 20% | 1% | 11% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 37% |
Results
| colspan="7" style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | State Republican Convention results, 2010[12][13][14] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | First ballot | Pct. | Second ballot | Pct. | Third ballot | Pct. |
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 982 | 28.75% | 1225 | 35.99% | 1383 | 42.72% |
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 917 | 26.84% | 1274 | 37.42% | 1854 | 57.28% |
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 885 | 25.91% | 905 | 26.99% | Script error: No such module "sort". | |
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 541 | 15.84% | Script error: No such module "sort". | |||
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 49 | 1.43% | Script error: No such module "sort". | |||
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 22 | 0.64% | Script error: No such module "sort". | |||
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 16 | 0.47% | Script error: No such module "sort". | |||
| Script error: No such module "Sort". | 4 | 0.12% | Script error: No such module "sort". | |||
| Total | Script error: No such module "sort". | Script error: No such module "sort". | Script error: No such module "sort". | Script error: No such module "sort". | Script error: No such module "sort". | Script error: No such module "sort". |
Primary
Candidates
- Tim Bridgewater, businessman
- Mike Lee, attorney
Endorsements
Bridgewater
Template:Endorsements box
Polling
| Poll Source | Dates Administered | Tim Bridgewater | Mike Lee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson Research[15] | June 10, 2010 | 30% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 39% |
| Deseret News/KSL-TV[16] | June 12–17, 2010 | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 42% | 33% |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Mike Lee | Script error: No such module "string". | 51.2% | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Tim Bridgewater | Script error: No such module "string". | 48.8% | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.0% | ||
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Democratic nomination
Candidates
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Sam Granato | Script error: No such module "string". | 77% | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Christopher Stout | Script error: No such module "string". | 23% | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100.0% | ||
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General election
Candidates
- Scott Bradley (C), businessman
- Sam Granato (D), businessman
- Mike Lee (R), attorney
Campaign
Granato emphasized his opposition to nuclear weapon tests in neighboring Nevada. In addition, he criticized Lee for his support of raising the retirement age and for questioning the constitutionality of Social Security.[20]
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Cook Political Report[21] | Template:USRaceRating | October 26, 2010 |
| Rothenberg[22] | Template:USRaceRating | October 22, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics[23] | Template:USRaceRating | October 26, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[24] | Template:USRaceRating | October 21, 2010 |
| CQ Politics[25] | Template:USRaceRating | October 26, 2010 |
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administeredScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Sample sizeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Margin of errorScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Sam Granato (D) | Mike Lee (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmussen Reports[26] | June 23, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 28% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 58% | 5% | 9% |
| Rasmussen Reports[27] | August 23, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 29% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 54% | 5% | 12% |
| Rasmussen Reports[28] | October 13, 2010 | 500 | ± 4.5% | 28% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 61% | 4% | 8% |
| Deseret News/KSL-TV[29] | October 11–14, 2010 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 31% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 53% | 1% | 11% |
| Mason-Dixon[30] | October 27, 2010 | 625 | ± 4.0% | 32% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 48% | 5% | 15% |
| Deseret News/KSL-TV[31] | October 25–28, 2010 | 1,206 | ± 3.0% | 30% | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 57% | 6% | 7% |
Fundraising
| Candidate (Party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash On Hand | Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Mike Lee (R) | $1,595,383 | $1,423,494 | $165,314 | $57,691 |
| style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Sam Granato (D) | $250,607 | $219,776 | $30,831 | $15,000 |
| Source: Federal Election Commission[32] | ||||
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />±%Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Mike Lee | Template:Replace | 61.56% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Sam Granato | 207,685 | 32.77% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Scott Bradley | 35,937 | 5.67% | Script error: No such module "String". | |
| Majority | 182,494 | 28.79% | Script error: No such module "String". | ||
| Total votes | 633,801 | 100.00% | |||
| Script error: No such module "Political party". hold | Swing | ||||
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Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
References
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- ↑ Rasmussen Reports
- ↑ Mason Dixon Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
- ↑ Senate Race: 1st Round Results Template:Webarchive Accessed May 10, 2010
- ↑ Senate Race: 2nd Round Results Template:Webarchive Accessed May 10, 2010
- ↑ Senate Race: 3rd Round Results Template:Webarchive Accessed May 10, 2010
- ↑ Wilson Research
- ↑ Deseret News/KSL-TV
- ↑ Utah Election Results Template:Webarchive
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- ↑ Rasmussen Reports
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- ↑ Deseret News/KSL-TV
- ↑ Mason-Dixon
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External links
- Utah Government Services - Elections
- U.S. Congress candidates for Utah at Project Vote Smart
- Utah U.S. Senate 2010 from OurCampaigns.com
- Campaign contributions from Open Secrets
- Election 2010: Utah Senate from Rasmussen Reports
- Utah Senate - Lee vs. Granato from Real Clear Politics
- 2010 Utah Senate Race from CQ Politics
- Race profile from The New York Times
Debates
- Utah Senate Republican Primary Debate, C-SPAN, June 2, 2010
- Utah Senate Debate, C-SPAN, September 16, 2010
Official campaign sites (Archived)
- Scott Bradley for U.S. Senate
- Mike Lee for U.S. SenateTemplate:Category handler[<span title="Script error: No such module "string".">usurped]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Sam Granato for U.S. Senate
Template:United States elections, 2010 Template:US Third Party Election