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SALT LAKE CITY — <\/span>The internal Democratic Party battle that has emerged in this year\u2019s primaries<\/a> between progressive and moderate candidates will play out Tuesday<\/a> in an unlikely place, reliably red Utah.<\/p>\n A redraw of U.S. House districts<\/a> has created a solidly left-leaning seat in the Salt Lake City area, prompting a flood of interest among Democrats.<\/p>\n Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, who by one analysis<\/a> was considered the most conservative House Democrat during his single term in Congress, faces three candidates to his political left in the party’s primary in the 1st Congressional District. McAdams has sought to shed his reputation as a moderate, while his opponents have urged each other to drop out and clear a path for Utah to send its first progressive to Washington.<\/p>\n The other three of Utah’s four congressional seats are considered safely Republican, including the 3rd District, where Tuesday’s contest for the GOP nomination features a conservative challenger trying to knock off an incumbent congresswoman.<\/p>\n Utah is a rare Republican stronghold where the GOP is expected to lose one of its U.S. House seats following a lengthy legal battle<\/a> over the previous districts.<\/p>\n That 1st District seat, along with a handful in California<\/a>, is among the few anticipated Democratic pickups following a national redistricting fight that President Donald Trump started<\/a> last year to try to help Republicans hold their majority in the U.S. House. Democrats need to net only a few seats in November to win control.<\/p>\n Candidates in the new Salt Lake City-area district have tried to outflank one another on the left<\/a>. That marks a departure from decades of Democrats trying to appeal to Utah’s mostly conservative electorate.<\/p>\n Because of how the 1st District was drawn, the Democratic primary winner will be strongly favored in the fall to defeat Republican Riley Owen. The intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve was chosen during the state GOP’s spring convention.<\/p>\n State Democrats are holding an open primary, meaning anyone in the district can vote, regardless of party affiliation. That could benefit a candidate such as McAdams, who has built a broad base.<\/p>\n McAdams previously described himself as pro-life and pitched himself as a moderate during his 2018 campaign, when he ousted a GOP incumbent<\/a> in the midterms of Trump\u2019s first term. This year, as he campaigns in a much more Democratic district, McAdams pledged his support for abortion rights and insisted that he\u2019s only \u201cmoderate in tone.\u201d<\/p>\n Among McAdams’ opponents is state Sen. Nate Blouin, a progressive firebrand in the Republican-controlled Legislature who is hoping to bounce back from a social media controversy.<\/p>\n Blouin apologized in April for several posts he made on internet forums between 2009 and 2015 that denigrated women and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Utah-based faith known widely as the Mormon<\/a> church.<\/p>\n Blouin has tried to energize an electorate he said has grown accustomed to settling for someone who will \u201cplay nice\u201d with Republicans. He has racked up endorsements from some of the country\u2019s most prominent progressives, including independent Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> and Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Greg Casar and Maxwell Frost.<\/p>\n Two political newcomers, Liban Mohamed and Michael Farrell, also are vying for the seat.<\/p>\n Mohamed, a former Meta and TikTok employee, was a breakout star at the state\u2019s Democratic convention earlier this year, where he emerged victorious after five rounds of ranked choice voting to earn the party\u2019s backing in the primary over McAdams. His competitors still were able to qualify for the primary ballot by gathering signatures. Mohamed is backed by other prominent progressives, including U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.<\/p>\n While progressive voters had a wealth of candidates from which to choose, some also worried the field was too big.<\/p>\n Emily Cort, who cast her ballot for Blouin at the Salt Lake County Government Center, said she worries that progressive support diluted among the three could lead to a win by McAdams in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a little nervous that there is a split at the moment between like Nate and Liban,\u201d said Cort, 29, referring to the two leading progressives.<\/p>\n She said she liked both candidates and wished one would have considered dropping out to give the other a better chance of succeeding.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I do wish that an agreement could have been come to prior to the actual Election Day,\u201d she said. \u201cSo that is unfortunate. So we\u2019ll see how that plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n Eunice Jean Irwin, an independent voter from the Salt Lake County city of Holladay, said she supported Mohamed. The 78-year-old immigrant from Japan said friends \u201ccouldn\u2019t shut up\u201d about the candidate, describing him him as a visionary “and all the things I\u2019m looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n Mohamed is the son of Somali immigrants, and Irwin liked that he also comes from an immigrant family.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019m really tired of Ben,\u201d she added, referring to McAdams.<\/p>\n Utah’s new congressional map also left Republican U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy<\/a> vulnerable to a primary challenge from a candidate who is further to the right.<\/p>\n Maloy, who was endorsed by Trump, faces former state lawmaker Phil Lyman in the redrawn 3rd District, which spans most of southern and eastern Utah. Lyman embraced false claims of fraud<\/a> following the 2020 presidential election and has long had the support of the state\u2019s most conservative voters.<\/p>\n