Riley Owen, a Republican who says he is 27, is running for Utah's 1st Congressional District in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election. Owen won the GOP nomination with 71.2% of the delegate vote at the Utah GOP Nominating Convention on April 25, according to KUER.
He faces Democrat Ben McAdams, independent Elias Henry Montgomery and Libertarian Jesse West, according to BallotReady election data. Owen describes himself as one of the first conservative Gen Z congressional nominees in the nation, according to his campaign website.
Candidate information
- Party: Republican
- Age: 27, according to his campaign website
- Education: Bachelor's in international relations and affairs, Princeton University; master's in public policy, University of Oxford; Eisenhower Global Scholar, Eisenhower Fellowships (2024)
- Military: Naval officer, U.S. Navy Reserve (2023–present), according to BallotReady
- Background: Owen said he was raised in Southern California and came to Utah. He said he comes from six generations of Utahns who still work the land they settled after immigrating from Denmark. He said he served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Denmark.
Experience and public service
Owen said he worked as a White House policy analyst. His work spanned manufacturing and trade sectors including shipbuilding, critical minerals, semiconductors and agricultural products, he said. He also said he assisted federal COVID-19 response efforts, coordinating use of the Defense Production Act to produce and distribute PPE, test kits and ventilators.
Owen said he worked at Fincantieri Marine Group. He also said he helped build a defense technology startup that supports Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion. BallotReady lists him as chief executive officer of Doers Network (2025–2026), managing director at Sentala (2024–present) and manager of strategy and operations at a stealth startup (2024–2026).
On the issues
The following positions come from Owen's responses on his campaign website and through BallotReady.
Housing: Owen said he will fight for affordable housing by conditioning federal funding on localities implementing zoning reform.
Government reform: Owen said he will fight for a constitutional amendment to eliminate political corruption by overturning Citizens United and establishing term limits of six terms for representatives and three for senators. He said he will sponsor legislation to end congressional stock trading for members and staffers.
Environment: Owen said he will convene local stakeholders and national agencies to save the Great Salt Lake.
Defense and technology: Owen said he will push for modernizing the military to reduce costs and prioritize unmanned systems over expensive legacy platforms. Separately, he said he will push to modernize government software systems, integrating artificial intelligence to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse while streamlining service delivery.
Taxes and jobs: Owen said he will advocate for expanded tax credits to businesses offering six weeks of paid maternity leave. He said he will build apprenticeship partnerships between Utah colleges and advanced manufacturers.
This profile was compiled from the candidate's campaign website, BallotReady data and KUER reporting. Policy positions reflect the candidate's own stated views.
