Bruce Hough, father of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ brother and sister, qualifies for House primary ballot

Bruce Hough, the father of “Dancing With the Stars” siblings Julianne and Derek Hough, is poised to be on the GOP primary ballot in a Utah House race.

The former Republican state chair qualified for the ballot in the Sep. 5 special primary election for Utah’s 2^nd congressional district, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s (R) office announced Wednesday. The special general election for the House seat in the Beehive State is Nov. 21.

Bruce Hough collected more than 7,000 signatures to meet the threshold in order to appear on the primary ballot, according to Henderson’s office.

The House seat is being vacated by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah). The six-term Republican announced in May that he was resigning due to his wife’s illness.

Professional dancers Derek and Julianne Hough have indicated they have a strong relationship with their father. Thirty-eight-year-old Derek Hough, who’s won “Dancing With the Stars” six times, credited his dad in a 2017 interview with keeping the family “all very grounded.” The father-son duo recently appeared together at a May event at Gonzaga University called “Taking the Lead: Lessons in Leadership from the Art of Dance.”

Julianne Hough, 34, congratulated her father for graduating from Gonzaga in 2018. “My dad is always the first to want to learn more and continually pushing himself to grow,” Hough said in an Instagram post. “He is such an amazing example of putting your mind to something, that anything is possible, and it’s never too late,” she wrote.