Forward Party Backs 21 Candidates for State and County Offices in Utah

The Forward Party of Utah is supporting a slate of 21 candidates for state legislative and county offices this November, with the national party lauding the group as “the most vibrant third-party candidate field in Utah in years.”

The national party announced the full group earlier this month, with candidates pursuing seats in both chambers of the Utah legislature as well as several county offices. Most are expected to appear on the ballot under the Forward Party label, while House candidates Patrick Belmont and Alan Wessman are instead running as unaffiliated candidates with the party’s public endorsement.

Most of the candidates now being promoted nationally had already been selected and announced by the Forward Party of Utah several months earlier. County conventions held in Utah, Davis, Salt Lake, and Weber counties nominated 10 members of the current group in March, with another nine legislative candidates selected at the party’s April 11 state convention. Belmont and Wessman were added sometime later on.

“We have five candidates running head-to-head against established party candidates,” Forward Party CEO Lindsey Drath said. “The recent developments in Utah provide a leading indicator that Utahns desire increased optionality in candidates, and increasingly want their choices to stand outside of the entrenched two-party system.”

One of the more notable races for the party this election cycle is Senate District 11, where incumbent Forward Party Sen. Emily Buss is facing Republican Brooks Benson following the withdrawal of Democratic candidate MacKenzie Miller. The national party has placed particular attention on the district, grouping Miller’s withdrawal with Democratic exits seen in Idaho, South Dakota, and Nebraska where independent candidates have otherwise remained in the race.

Buss was originally appointed to the seat last year after former Sen. Daniel Thatcher, who had left the Republican Party to join the Forward Party in earlier in 2025, resigned from the legislature. The party then conducted a highly publicized replacement process open to every registered voter in the district, regardless of party affiliation, which it called an “unprecedented” and “first-of-its-kind” approach to filling a legislative vacancy. Members ultimately chose Buss for the seat following an approval poll.

Upon news of Miller’s exit, the Forward Party of Utah released a statement of its own on August 31, calling the race a referendum on Utah’s political future and praising Buss’s voting record as a “clear example of independence in practice.” It said the current two-party system is incapable of correcting itself and, given the opportunity presented by the race, called re-electing Buss a chance to “reject partisan politics-as-usual.”

“In just her first year, Senator Buss has already begun to prove the Forward Party concept,” the state party said. “Separated from the pressures of party politics, she was free to be herself, and she did just that. She showed us that a senator can put her constituents first, then work across the aisle on their behalf.”

The full slate of candidates is provided below: