Six candidates running to lead Utah’s newly drawn, heavily Republican 3rd Congressional District highlighted differing views on national monuments and nuclear energy ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The new map, drawn by plaintiffs in a redistricting lawsuit and approved for use in the 2026 elections, covers more than half of Utah, stretching from Park City to the Four Corners region and including all five national parks in the state.
In the run-up to the election, voters and local officials across the district shared the issues they want to take precedence in Washington, D.C., and the reservations they have about living in one of the nation’s most expansive congressional districts.
City Councilmember Kaitlin Myers of Moab said the new map changes the dynamic, telling KUER that “rather than working together as a district with the same goal, we’re having to kind of compete for resources.” Myers said involving the federal delegation is key given that Arches and Canyonlands national parks lie just beyond Moab’s borders, and that the vast majority of surrounding Grand County is federally managed public land.
She pointed out that while the district is considered to encompass most of rural Utah, the needs of a rural community such as her own, compared to Montezuma Creek in San Juan County or Cedar City in Iron County, vary widely.
“But by lumping them in, I think it just dilutes the ability for a legislator to be able to actually represent the challenges of that district,” Myers said.
Roughly 200 miles west of Moab, sheep farmer and Republican Piute County Commissioner Will Talbot agreed. “When you really put the math to it, it would be nicer if that was chopped up – have a little more representatives, you know?” Talbot said in an interview with KUER as his sheep bleated nearby.
