I just walked past Senate President Stuart Adams at the Davis County GOP convention.

He has called me a "former journalist" and "unethical" on social media after I wrote a story he didn't like.

Adams tried to give me a fist bump. I just shook my head and kept walking.

The absolute audacity...

Schultz attempted to get signatures to qualify for the primary but fell way short.

Neal is convention-only.

That means whether there's a primary will be decided at the state convention next week.

Schultz rattles off the redistricting ruling and the scandal surrounding Judge Torgerson and this week's flare-up with Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagan.

"There are no checks and balances inside our judiciary," Schultz said.

House Speaker Mike Schultz is next.

"The most important thing that's happening right now is what's happening inside our judiciary."

Dava Ann Neal, who is challenging House Speaker Mike Schultz in HD12, says if she's elected, she'll adhere to the "Constitution and the Holy Scriptures."

She adds that she's 60 years old, so she won't be beholden to "any shenanigans" in the Legislature.

Stuart Adams is up now.

He's leaning into his well-worn schtick about Utah being ranked No. 1 in several economic indicators.

He then crams in that lawmakers "kept men out of women's sports and women's bathrooms."

He finishes with a full minute left on his clock, which is almost unheard of.

Braden Hess is the next candidate. He starts out with a joke about which government holiday is the best. It falls really flat.

He says the legislature should "only be confirming candidates who reflect our Utah values."

He adds society is decaying because we're no longer a "God-fearing country."

Next up is Stephanie Hollist. She has already qualified for the primary through signatures. This is the first time that Adams will face a primary election in his time in the Utah Legislature.

She's the former general counsel for Weber State University.

Now we're hearing from candidates challenging Stuart Adams for the GOP nomination for SD7.

First up is Jennifer Garner.

She says the state legislature has "overstepped into cities and counties," and they need to "get back in their lane."

Clayton Hatch, who is also running in CD2, says "we need a foreign policy that stops putting the needs of other countries first."

I'd love to hear his thoughts about what the Trump administration is doing around the world.

Karianne Lisonbee, who is running against Moore for the GOP nomination in CD2, is speaking now.

She takes a shot at Moore, noting that she actually lives in the district. Moore doesn't.

That gets some applause from delegates.

Voting is done.

Now we're hearing from candidates who will be competing at the state convention.

Rep. Blake Moore was here but had to leave. That brings some sarcastic aww's from the crowd.

Sam Barlow is the first candidate to mention President Trump, thanking him for his leadership.

Scoreboard:

Donald Trump mentions - 1
Charlie Kirk mentions - 0

The next contest is for the open seat in HD17 to replace Rep. Stewart Barlow, who is retiring.

Lili Bitner and Sam Barlow (Stewart Barlow's son) have already qualified for the primary through signatures.

The third candidate in the race, Adam Sorensen, is convention-only.

A few scattered boos as Bob Stevenson comes to the podium.

There's some yelling from the crowd about his time on the Davis County Commission when they voted to raise taxes.

Apparently "slander" means "accurately report on the things he says and does."

Who knew? 🤷

Lee takes a shot at the media, "who continues to slander me because I stand up for you."

"I've been trying to push back against any of the woke garbage that threatens our families," Lee says.

"I've also worked hard to prioritize people who are American citizens," Lee adds, saying it's wrong to provide government services to non-citizens.

The next speakers are Rep. Trevor Lee and Bob Stevenson in HD16.

Stevenson has already qualified for the primary via signatures. Lee needs to get just 30% of the delegate vote to reach the primary.

The race in HD14 is between Kara Toone and John Taylor.

HD14 is an open seat because Karianne Lisonbee is running for Congress in CD2.

Toone has already qualified for the ballot through signatures.

Tran takes a veiled shot at Wanlass, who says he "mistakenly" signed up to collect signatures.

"I signed up to be dual path, and I did it very intentionally," Tran says.

The other GOP candidate in the SD6 race is Kaysville Mayor Tami Tran.

She gets a huge ovation from delegates as she takes the stage.

She's already qualified for the primary ballot through signatures.

Robert Wanlass, who is running for the open seat in SD6, is up now. Sen. Jerry Stevenson is retiring.

Wanlass says on the final day of candidate filing, he was asked to run by Reps. Trevor Lee and Karianne Lisonbee.

So far, not a single mention of Donald Trump or Charlie Kirk, which is surprising.

County Sheriff candidate Jon Atkin begins his speech throwing red meat to the delegates.

"I've seen communism, I've seen socialism. I've been to Auschwitz and I know the horrors that can happen if we're not dilligent."

Not sure what any of that has to do with being sheriff
🤷

Lorene Kamalu, one of two other candidates in the race, has already qualified for the primary through signatures. Brandon Stanger tried to collect signatures but did not submit enough to qualify.

We've finally started candidate speeches.

Trevor Lee's mom, Susan, is running for Davis County Commissioner. She gets a HUGE ovation from the delegates when she says she did not collect signatures to get on the ballot.

For the last 30-ish minutes, delegates have been arguing/asking questions about the use of instant run-off voting (IRV) or ranked choice voting.

This is pretty typical for a GOP convention, but it's tedious.

The election result that matters for Trevor Lee today is 50%.

If he gets 50%, then the party can endorse him and provide financial support.

In 2024, the Davis County GOP donated $10,000 to Lee's campaign for the primary election, where he narrowly defeated Daniela Harding by 524 votes.

As you can guess, those delegate shenanigans were part of an effort to protect Rep. Trevor Lee during today's vote.

Also important: of the 94 potential delegates in HD16, four are ex officio, meaning they're either elected officials or party leadership.

I would expect those votes to go for Lee.