Utah Senate President Stuart Adams Lost His Primary by 8 Points.

Utah Senate President Stuart Adams Lost His Primary by 8 Points

Utah Senate President Stuart Adams lost his Republican primary race on June 23, 2026, to challenger Stephanie Hollist by more than 8 percentage points. Adams conceded within hours of polls closing. He will lose the District 7 seat in Davis and Morgan counties that he held for 16 years.

The loss caught political analysts off guard. Taylor Morgan, a political consultant with the Utah-based firm Morgan & May, had predicted Adams would win by single digits.

“I was genuinely shocked.”

Taylor Morgan, political consultant, Morgan & May, June 24, 2026

A Data Center Proposal Cost Adams His Career

The data center controversy appears to be the central reason Adams lost. Adams chaired the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), the special district that gave initial approval to a massive data center proposed by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary in Box Elder County. The project drew statewide outrage over energy consumption, water use, and environmental damage to the already-stressed Great Salt Lake.

Adams was the most visible official tied to MIDA’s approval. Voters connected his name to the proposal directly.

A second controversy compounded the damage. The Salt Lake Tribune reported last year that Adams initiated passage of a law that later helped his 18-year-old granddaughter reach a plea deal in a criminal case involving sex with a 13-year-old.

A New Senate President Must Now Be Elected

Hollist, an attorney and former senior legal adviser for Weber State, will be the Republican nominee in November for a district where Republicans hold a majority. She is expected to win the general election. When she takes the seat, the Utah Senate Republican caucus will need to elect a new Senate president, one of the most powerful positions in state government.

Morgan said analysts will study precinct-level vote data to understand what happened. What is already clear is that a single controversial infrastructure decision, made by a long-tenured leader with deep institutional ties, became the vehicle voters used to end his career.

What You Can Do Now

1. Contact Utah Senate Republican Caucus leadership at (801) 538-1035 and tell them the new Senate president must be independent from special district boards like MIDA. The caucus vote will happen before the 2027 session.

2. Call your Utah state senator through the Utah Legislature’s directory at le.utah.gov and ask them to support independent oversight of MIDA and other special districts that approve large-scale development without direct voter input.

3. Submit public comment to the Utah Division of Water Resources at water.utah.gov about the Great Salt Lake protection standards. The data center debate revealed how quickly unelected boards can approve projects with major water impacts.

4. Contact Box Elder County Commissioners at (435) 734-3300 and ask them to require full environmental impact assessments before approving any future data center or large utility infrastructure proposals.

Sources

Utah News Dispatch: Stuart Adams Concedes to Republican Challenger Stephanie Hollist

Salt Lake Tribune: Adams Initiated Law That Helped His Granddaughter’s Plea Deal

Utah Legislature: MIDA Special District Authority and Membership

[Callout: Senate President seat now open after 16-year tenure.

Utah GOP caucus must elect replacement before 2027 session. Utah News Dispatch]