Inside Utah Politics with Lindsay Aerts

We're counting down the hours to election day. Representative Mike Kennedy is running on new district lines to keep his seat in Congress. He joins Lindsay to talk about the issues driving conversation on the campaign trail here in Utah and across the nation, including affordability, the war in Iran and AI regulation. Plus, Utah's only third-party lawmaker faces a major test on Tuesday. Utah Forward Party Senator Emily Buss took over the seat in Utah's 11th district from the resigning Senator Dan Thatcher, and now she'll face a GOP challenge in her first race as an incumbent.

Utah filed criminal charges against prediction market Kalshi, accusing it of violating the state's anti-gambling laws. Plus, Former Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen, who resigned after affair allegations, is pushing voters to retain judges on the ballot after a push by top GOP leaders to oust them. Meanwhile, new polling shows Amendment B, which would raise the threshold for initiatives involving taxes, has 56% of Utahns oppose the change. And we now know who’s running for leadership positions in the Utah Legislature. Panelists Adam Gardiner and Erin Rider break it all down in this episode of Inside Utah Politics.

County clerks offices in Utah and Weber counties are alerting voters to some issues with their mailed ballots. In the case of the former, some voter received some inaccurate information about voter ID, while voters in the latter county may have received two ballots. Panelists Leah Murray and Taylor Morgan join Lindsay to weigh in. Plus, we have some early voting data that shows just over 10% of Utah voters have voted in the midterm elections. We look into what that could mean for some of the big issues on the ballot.

We're digging deep on one of the biggest local races in the state of Utah. The Salt Lake County District Attorney is at the top of law enforcement in Utah's largest counties. D.A. Sim Gill has held that office for 16 years since his election in 2010. He now faces a challenge from a former member of his office in GOP nominee Kent Davis. Both candidates sit down with Lindsay Aerts to make their case for November 3rd and share their approach on tricky issues like community violence, addiction, homelessness and more in this special edition of Inside Utah Politics.

Recent reporting from Lindsay Aerts revealed that newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Michael Menssen signed the effort to put Prop 4 back on the ballot in the month before joining the court. Just recently he sat on a case involving the redistricting plaintiffs. The state judiciary says their standards for recusal were followed. Panelists Rusty Cannon and Leah Murray join Lindsay to go through the sticky implications. Plus, Utah's Lieutenant Governor says the DOJ is sending poll watchers to the state. We dig into the impacts and what voters need to know.

The law at the center of a fight over housing could be headed for a repeal. It comes after months of tension between the governor's top housing advisor and Summit and Wasatch counties over local pushback to new housing development. Panelists Taylor Morgan and Leah Murray weigh in on the sticking points in the struggle between local control and the governor's agenda to see more housing built statewide. Plus, Utah Senator John Curtis is pushing back on President Donald Trump's plan to import Russian diesel in a bid to lower prices at the pump. But will it be enough to move the needle and is it worth potentially funding the Russian war in Ukraine?

The groups behind some of Utah's most high profile legal topics argued before the Supreme Court this week, but not on the merits. Instead of discussing Utah's abortion trigger law, the drying Great Salt Lake, or the state's new congressional districts, they were debating what court will get to hear those cases. The plaintiff's say the new 3-judge panel that lawmakers made to hear constitutional claims earlier this year is itself unconstitutional. Lawyer David Reymann joins Linday to unpack the arguments he made before the high court. Plus, Steve Waldrip, the Governor Cox's top housing advisor, addresses the tension between the state and local leaders on this issue.

A new report highlights some of the groups supporting campaigns for moderate Republicans across the state at all levels of government. Panelists Erin Rider and Adam Gardiner join Lindsay to give a peak behind the curtain. Plus. the Davis County GOP will not fill former Rep. Trevor Lee's vacant seat before the midterm elections on November 3rd. But should they?

Three separate lawsuits referred to a newly established Constitutional Court are fighting the move in front of the Utah Supreme Court. Panelists Leah Murray and Taylor Morgan join Lindsay to dig into the issues at play. Plus, Trump and Vance are campaigning in Nebraska. What does that mean for the GOP's midterm fortunes? And, the intersection of faith and politics comes to the fore at General Conference with a direct condemnation of prediction markets and gambling among members of Utah's largest faith.

With a month to go until election day, ABC4 has you covered with analysis and coverage of high stakes races here in Utah and across the country. Our team of panelists joins Chief Political Correspondent and host of Inside Utah Politics Lindsay Aerts is identifying and breaking down the elections that could decide the makeup of Congress and the future of President Donald Trump's agenda. Here in Utah, we're tracking key ballot items and legislative races that could change the makeup of both chambers of the Utah legislature, and even the state constitution. Taylor Morgan, Leah Murray and Adam Gardiner share their insights from years of working in politics, on and off Capitol Hill. It's just the first look at what you can expect from the polls and from ABC4 on election night November 3.