Swallow
SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) - John Swallow has won the Republican nomination for Utah attorney general, according to state election results.
Swallow, the chief deputy attorney general of Utah's civil division, won by a 2-to-1 margin in Tuesday's primary.
According to the Lt. Governor's Office, which oversees the state's elections, Swallow won with 68 percent of the votes, or 143,099.
Sean Reyes, his GOP opponent, received 32 percent, or 67,262 votes, with 100 percent of the state's 2,114 precincts reporting.
Reyes told The Salt Lake Tribune that he was "proud" of his campaign.
"We worked harder than anybody I know and ran with honor and integrity," he told the newspaper, days after filing a lawsuit against Swallow.
On Friday, Reyes sued Swallow, his campaign team and a Nevada-based political action committee for defamation of character.
In his suit, filed in the state's Third Judicial District, Reyes claims the group falsely portrayed him in television and radio advertisements.
The ads at issue focused on Reyes' campaign fundraising -- of which was investigated and has since been dismissed -- and an alleged road rage incident in 1993.
Swallow, who is looking to take over for the state's current top lawyer, Mark Shurtleff, has called the suit "frivolous."
Swallow will now face Democrat Dee Smith, a Weber County attorney, in the state's Nov. 6 general election.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.