Jim Bennett, a former Republican, will be allowed to run as a third-party candidate in a November special election to fill the House of Representatives job formerly held by Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.
"The state's interests do not require or justify effectively barring UUP (the United Utah Party) and its candidate, Mr. Bennett, from participating in the special election as a new political party," District Court Judge David Nuffer said in an order reported in The Salt Lake Tribune.
The lieutenant governor's office in Utah had prohibited Bennett from getting on the ballot, because the United Utah Party had not qualified before the deadline for candidates to enter the race, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
The judge said in The Tribune that the election office did not have to take 30 days to review the petition from the Utah United Party, "but it did, even though the work could have been completed in two days."
The judge said that since Nuffer is the party's only candidate, he could skip the Aug. 15 primary and go straight to the general election, according to the Tribune.
Chaffetz exited his position at the end of June. During his tenure he was the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. "At some point, you've got to get off this crazy train," Chaffetz said in May.
Bennett resigned from the Republican Party after Donald Trump won the nomination to be the Republican presidential candidate, according to Salt Lake City's KUTV.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.