U.S. House · Utah's 1st District
Elias Montgomery
CandidateIND
- Race
- U.S. House · Utah's 1st District
- Result
- Ben McAdams, projected winner
- Opponents
- Ben McAdams (D); Riley Owen (R); Jesse West (LIB)
- Research
- Basic
Party linenone
No recorded floor votes — not a current legislator in our records.
Said vs. did1 statement · 0 votes
Legalize and streamline "missing-middle" housing like duplexes, townhomes, and small apartments.
Loosen zoning rules to build more housing
Compare statements with votes ›On the ballotU.S. House · 1
2026-11-03
| Ben McAdams D | challenger |
| Riley Owen R | challenger |
| Jesse West LIB | challenger |
| Elias Montgomery IND | challenger |
Said vs. did
Each documented position next to the recorded floor votes we map to the same issue. Votes are compared one at a time; no overall stance is inferred from them.
Legalize and streamline "missing-middle" housing like duplexes, townhomes, and small apartments.
Supports streamlining approval of "missing-middle" housing such as duplexes and townhomes while limiting large-scale corporate purchases of single-family homes.[3][4]
No recorded floor vote in our key-vote set maps to this issue.
Biography
Elias Montgomery, an unaffiliated recent University of Utah graduate who works as a policy analyst, lost the November 3, 2026 election for Utah's open 1st Congressional District to Ben McAdams. He described himself as an independent alternative to the two major parties, focused on housing costs and what he called a "broken political system." His platform included limits on institutional purchases of single-family homes, "missing-middle" housing, and a proportional nomination model for parties.[1][2]
Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.
Montgomery graduated from West Jordan High School and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in 2025. He works as a policy analyst.[1] He ran without a party affiliation. In his Ballotpedia survey he listed his key messages as housing affordability, restoring voter power through a proportional nomination model and ending corporate subsidies, and local control, including opposition to the Box Elder data center proposal.[1] He received 1.4% of the vote to Ben McAdams's 70.1%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[2]
In their own words
Priorities
- Housing affordability: wants to discourage large-scale institutional purchase of single-family homes and legalize "missing-middle" housing like duplexes and townhomes.[3]
- Government-process reform: proposes a "proportional nomination model" requiring parties to nominate candidates in proportion to voter affiliation, a ban on omnibus spending bills, and a public real-time ledger for federal transactions.[3]
- Local control: says decisions on zoning and development should stay with local communities, and opposes fast-tracking large industrial projects like a proposed Box Elder County data center without standard public hearings.[3]
Statements, quoted without a stance
- Protect legal access to abortion
“Criminalizing abortion does not work to eradicate the practice.”[4]
On his campaign website (Abortion plank)
- Stricter gun laws
“Shift law enforcement focus away from penalizing lawful gun owners and redirect resources to aggressively tracking and prosecuting violent felons, straw-purchasers, and criminal syndicates running black-market weapon networks.”[4]
On his campaign website (Gun Rights plank)
- Expand immigration enforcement and deportations
“Redirect enforcement assets entirely to high-impact tracking models targeting violent transnational syndicates and cartels.”[4]
On his campaign website (Immigration Enforcement plank)
- Increase police funding and staffing
“Provide robust community funding for advanced law enforcement training, mental health resources, and competitive retention pay.”[4]
On his campaign website (Police Reform plank)
- Expand public health coverage
“Pass a universal catastrophic healthcare floor to shield every family from medical bankruptcy.”[4]
On his campaign website (Healthcare plank)
- Faster transition away from fossil fuels
“Empower communities to develop advanced small-scale nuclear and solar setups without waiting through multi-year federal administrative freezes.”[4]
On his campaign website (Climate Policy plank)
Campaign moneyNo FEC filing summary matched — state candidates file with their state, not the FEC.
Profile: /people/elias-montgomery
Compare all 4 candidates side by side ›
Sources cited in this profile
- 1.Elias Montgomery — Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · 2026-09-25 Candidate's own words
- 2.U.S. House · Utah's 1st District results 2026 · NBC News News report
- 3.Elias Montgomery — Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · 2026-09-25 Candidate's own words
- 4.Elias Montgomery for Congress: policy agenda · Elias Montgomery campaign website · 2026-10-19 Candidate's own words