The Utah Democratic Party hosted its state convention on Saturday at Ogden High School.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Supporters wave a sign as Utah Democratic Party chair candidate Brian King speaks during the party’s 2025 organizing convention in Ogden on Saturday, May 31, 2025.
Just over six months after he lost a long-shot bid to oust incumbent Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah Democrats chose former state lawmaker Brian King to steer their party ahead of 2026 midterm elections.
King narrowly came out on top of Ben Peck, a 25-year-old up-and-coming campaign consultant and previous executive director of the Salt Lake County Democratic Party, winning with 52% of the vote Saturday at the Utah Democratic Party’s organizing convention in Ogden.
The contest came as Utah Democrats approach a three-decade losing streak in statewide races and after they failed to make gains in legislative representation last year.
King took the stage before the vote to ask delegates whether they are angry at President Donald Trump and Republicans, and the direction the country is going. Then, he asked: “Who, honestly, is a little mad at the Democrats right now?”
Shouts indicated the affirmative, and King followed, “Well, me too.”
“We need a chair who’s not afraid to get their hands dirty, not afraid to fill up their calendar,” King said, continuing, “What we need is a chair who has the vision, the experience to bring our party together and start winning again — a chair who’s been in this fight long enough to know that change takes dedication, planning and boldness.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Democratic Party chair candidate Ben Peck speaks during the 2025 organizing convention in Ogden on Saturday, May 31, 2025.
Salt Lake County Council at-large member Natalie Pinkney introduced Peck, who ran her —and those of others’ — successful campaign in a tight race last year. With that track record, Pinkney contended Peck can develop a strategy to produce more wins.
“There’s a tragedy in our party, and it’s a tragedy of losing every year,” she told delegates, adding, “I don’t have tragedy. I have hope because Ben delivered it.”
Taking a subtle jab at King, an attorney who owns a law firm, Peck said, “Our democracy is facing an existential crisis. We need a party that acts like it. We don’t have time for part-time leaders anymore.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake County Council member Natalie Pinkney endorses Utah Democratic State Chair candidate Ben Peck during the 2025 Utah Democratic Party State Convention in Ogden on Saturday, May 31, 2025.
Two other candidates who filed to run for chair — Archie Williams III and Jonathan Lopez. Both, in their speeches, drew boos.
Williams said delegates needed to elect a “pro-life” chair, or one who opposes abortion access, to win in Utah. Mentioning both King and Peck by name, Lopez took digs at the front-runners, criticizing the former for his November loss and the latter as a “far-left activist.”
While King and the party will support left-leaning candidates in nonpartisan municipal races this November, the focus of his two-year term will largely be on the 2026 midterm elections for congressional representatives and state lawmakers.
Republicans have maintained a supermajority in the Utah Legislature for decades, and Democrats’ presence at the Capitol has shrunk since King was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2008. Utah hasn’t had a Democrat in Congress since former Rep. Ben McAdams’ failed 2020 reelection run.
The party has joined a lawsuit challenging the state’s congressional districts, and how the Legislature came to adopt the electoral maps, which could result in new boundaries before the end of the year. In its August filing asking to intervene in the case, the party alleged the congressional map was “transparently drawn to dilute Democratic voting strength.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Democratic State Chair candidate Brian King speaks during the 2025 Utah Democratic Party State Convention in Ogden on Saturday, May 31, 2025.
In crimson Utah, where President Donald Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 20 percentage points, King has said additional hope arises from the White House’s sinking approval rating and frequent protests against its policies. He is strategizing to take advantage of that in an effort to make blue gains.
With the same aim, the Utah Democratic Party booked possible 2028 presidential candidate and outspoken Trump antagonist Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to speak Saturday. A consulting group making convention arrangements announced a couple days prior that Pritzker had canceled, citing the Illinois General Assembly’s ongoing budget session.
In a pre-recorded video played for Democratic delegates and attendees Saturday, Pritzker said, “Standing up for the people of Illinois is job one for me in the fight that I’m waging against the White House and the MAGA Republicans in Congress. But I have to admit, I wish I were there with you, because Utah Democrats are on the front lines of our collective struggle.”
Looking toward the next contest for the White House, delegates signed off on a resolution “condemning efforts to extend presidential tenure beyond two terms“ amid ongoing speculation that Trump, currently in his second term, may mount another reelection attempt in 2028. The proposal came after Utah Republican Party delegates rejected a similar resolution at their organizing convention two weeks earlier.