Democracy for Utah - State Party

Are you registered to vote by mail?

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:40:36 -0600

From the Salt Lake County Democrats:

Avoid the lines, any weather we may get, and make sure you vote by signing up to have your ballot mailed to you for FREE! Vote in the comfort of your own home and don't worry about it again. All you have to do is send this form to the County Clerk's office as soon as you can.

Also, if you know anyone who is a voter who sometimes forgets, or sometimes gets too busy — but would vote Democrat if they did — pass this along to them. Make sure they sign up for this program. Their life will be made easier if they do.

The County Party is expending a lot of resources to get people to vote this year. If we can get a large number of people to vote early, that is money saved!

If you live outside Salt Lake County, you can use the Utah form from elections.utah.gov to register to vote by mail.

A pizza deliverer's run-in with Senator Curtis Bramble

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:49:14 -0600

Funny stuff from local blogger sad for a while:

I show up at this pretty house with a 3 car garage and lots of expensive camping equipment airing out on the front porch. A boy, maybe 12 years old, answers the door, asks the amount, and yells it to his parents who are in the kitchen. I pull the pizzas out of the bag as the father walks out to me.

"Can you take a check?"

"I can't take a personal check. We accept business checks, but not personal checks. Sorry."

He gets huffy. "Well, then you can take your pizzas back." [...]

"Look, I'm the majority leader of the state senate, I've lived in this house for 30 years, and I've never bounced a check." He's gruff. I am uncomfortable, my eyes pleading, but I say nothing. "Do you know what that means? I'm a public figure. If I bounced a check, it would be all over the papers. I'd lose my reputation!"

Quite the catch-22 — bounce a check, end up in the papers; act like a jerk, end up on the blogs.

Key State Senate Races

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:01:45 -0600

Depending on the source/study, 3-10% of adults contribute to political campaigns, and the average contributor contributes less than .5% of his/her annual income to political campaigns.

In Utah in 2006, 100% of the State Senate races went to the candidate with the most money. Over the past several elections, about 75% of the State House races went to the candidate with the most money.

Win or lose, a well-funded campaign contributes to the long term health of the party. It educates candidates and identifies and develops resources, such as new candidates, donors, volunteers, etc.

The Blue Army needs more SLCo Dems

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:46:46 -0600

From Weston Clark of the Salt Lake County Democratic Party:

In our last newsletter I introduced the Blue Army. It is up and going, and many members are enjoying a dialogue with other Democrats and learning what candidates need our help now. They are, unfortunately, learning about one of the biggest mysteries of politics.

Nobody cares until November.

Even though this email goes out to over 4000 people, only 40 brave souls have signed up to help Democrats get elected.

Candidates are desperate for help. They need volunteers. They NEED YOU! But nobody seems to give politics a thought until it is so close to the election that it is essentially TOO LATE!

Yes, I said it. Too late! The only way that last week of work is effective is

Obama campaign and DNC will coordinate closely with state parties

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:07:41 -0600

From denis diderot at Daily Kos, the run-down from Friday's DNC conference call with all 50 state Democratic Party chairs:

Dean kicked it off and then introduced Obama, who spoke for just a couple minutes. He emphasized that be believes that "change comes from the grass-roots up, not the top down," and said that the watch-word for the approach in working with the state democratic parties was going to be "respect." He noted that they would be doing a lot of listening because "obviously" you know your states better than we do. He mentioned the "50-state" strategy a couple of times. Perhaps most interestingly and importantly, he strongly stressed that the [Obama] campaign is not going to be just about winning the White House, but building the party, and that they were going to think about all of the races on the ticket, not just those at or near the top. And that there was a strong desire to building a lasting political machine that create victories far into the future.

Utah Dems still face a challenge in November

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:34:38 -0600

In the Deseret News today, political reporter Bob Bernick Jr. parrots the Standard Utah Political Narrative — Utah is "red, red and more red," he says — but I think the article is accurate overall. Utah Democrats will make some gains this year, but it won't be the landslide we'll see in Washington. Of course, I'd be happy to be wrong.

A recent survey conducted for the Deseret News and KSL-TV by Dan Jones & Associates shows just what Utah Democrats are up against in 2008:

Almost two-thirds of registered Utah voters say they plan to vote for the Republican candidate in their state House or Senate race this year. Only 24 percent of voters say they plan to vote for the Democratic Party's candidate in their legislative contests. Republicans hold two-thirds majorities now in the Legislature. [...]

And while a number of Utahns say it is time to let someone new serve in their state House or Senate district, GOP challengers to incumbent Republican legislators have not fared well so far this year — by far most challengers were defeated in their county or state conventions. Only three legislative incumbents have so far been defeated: Sen. Fred Fife, D-Salt Lake; and Reps. Sylvia Andersen, R-Sandy; and Aaron Tilton, R-Springville.

To the State Party; Unity can be ours...

Thu, 22 May 2008 10:35:39 -0600

It has been one and a half weeks since the State Democratic Convention.

Most of the hurt feelings and confusion about the “line out” process and election results have become less painful, with most people moving towards working for specific local and national candidates.

I read a letter to the editor in the Salt Lake Tribune a few days ago. It was written by a 19 year old man who had driven up to the State Convention in Salt Lake City, to participate in his own bid for National Delegate, and to participate in the State Convention itself. He was discouraged on many levels. He voiced some of the feelings that I am sure other participants felt after the State Convention was over.

State convention results

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:32:09 -0600

Utdemocrats.org has the results of the national delegate elections for Utah's Obama and Clinton delegates as well as the election for national committeewoman (Patrice Arent) and committeeman (Joe Hatch).

Buttars avoids primary challenge by 1 vote

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:58:55 -0600

Salt Lake Tribune:

Buttars escaped a primary contest with the strongest of his rivals, Gary Armstrong, by a single vote at the Salt Lake County Republican Convention. One ballot was discarded because the delegate had apparently marked both names. The two-term incumbent now goes on to face Democrat John Rendell in the November general election.

Armstrong did not challenge the discarding of a spoiled ballot even though, had it been added to his total, it would have put him over the 40 percent mark to force a primary in June.

But he expressed bitter disappointment at the race's outcome.

"Our district can't survive four more years of Chris Buttars. I will support the Democrat," said Armstrong.

Republican delegates and party activists tend to be farther right on the political spectrum than Republican voters as a whole, so we can expect Buttars' support in the general to be even less than what he got at the convention.

Christian Burridge resigns as chair of Salt Lake County Democratic Party (updated)

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:55:15 -0600

Salt Lake Tribune:

The intra-party squabble seems to have intensified since January, when Burridge accepted a time-consuming litigation job at the law firm Siegfried & Jensen.

While Democratic leaders gave few specifics about Burridge's ouster, board member Ellen Birrell said Thursday the outgoing chairman simply did not have the time to serve as an effective party boss.

"We have so much momentum, we have got to do everything possible to preserve it," she said. "That will take someone in the leadership role who can devote those many, many hours each week."

Apparently 1st Vice Chair Weston Clark now takes over as chair.

Update: From an e-mail sent out on behalf of Weston late Thursday:

As First Vice Chair for the party, I am Acting Chair and intend to seek the approval of the Central Committee to continue serving as Chair. This will take place at the Central Committee Meeting, which will be part of the County Convention on April 26. If anyone is interested in running for the position of Chair, nominations should be submitted to Angela Romero, Secretary, Salt Lake County Democratic Party, via email at angela_y_romero@yahoo.com or call 801-973-2250 to make other arrangements for submission.

Wayne Holland endorses Obama; Becker and Corroon seek delegate spots

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:25:38 -0600

That's one more superdelegate for Obama (Salt Lake Tribune):

Holland is one of six Utah superdelegates who can decide whom to support for the Democratic nominee regardless of the results of the state primary. But in explaining his decision, Holland leaned heavily on Obama's big win in Utah's Feb. 5 vote.

"Sen. Obama has helped to energize our state party," Holland said in a statement. "While we are blessed at having two exceptional candidates, Obama was clearly the choice of Utah Democrats."

Utah's other five superdelegates remain split. Former U.S. Rep. Bill Orton is backing Obama, while former state Sen. Karen Hale and state party committeewoman Helen Langan are backing Clinton. Though, Hale and Langan are considering a switch to Obama.

Rep. Jim Matheson remains undecided. Holland will name the sixth superdelegate during the state Democratic convention in May.

Ralph Becker and Peter Corroon, as well as our own Political Action Committee chair Sheryl Ginsberg, have applied to be some of Utah's 23 pledged delegates (Salt Lake Tribune):

Paul Rolly: Conservative Utah legislators face challenge from moderates

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:09:34 -0600

Paul Rolly in the Salt Lake Tribune:

The Utah Republican Party seems to be in a battle for its political soul.

Fifteen Republican incumbents in the state House of Representatives are facing stiff challenges from within their own party. Of the nine Republican incumbents who are up for re-election in the State Senate, five are being challenged by fellow Republicans.

For the first time in memory, all 75 House seats are contested, while in the Senate, only President John Valentine, R-Provo, escaped with no challenger at all. [...]

One telling feature of this year's political climate is that while many Republicans have GOP opponents, the most outspoken anti-voucher Republicans — Reps. Sheryl Allen, Kory Holdaway, Steve Mascaro, Mel Brown and Kay McIff — have no Republican opponent. That is a shift from past years when moderate Republicans were the ones being targeted in GOP conventions by the armies of the right.

Getting more Democrats in the legislature would be great, but replacing the extremist conservatives with more moderate Republicans wouldn't be bad either.

Rocky Anderson, Chris Buttars make Salt Lake City Weekly's 'Best of Utah 2008'

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:38:32 -0600

Salt Lake City Weekly has published its yearly "Best of Utah" issue, and you'll recognize several of this year's winners (all of these are under the Media & Politics section):

Best BYU Event – Dick Cheney Protest, April 2007

Best Cash Infusion – Out-of-State School-Voucher Advocates

Best Air Activist – Dr. Brian Moench (he spoke at our February meetup)

Best Activist – Rocky Anderson

Best Elected Official – Ralph Becker (Readers' Choice)

Best State Legislator – Scott McCoy (Readers' Choice)

Best Capital Kook – Chris Buttars

Best Reason to Unionize – Crandall Canyon Mine Disaster

Best Local Scandal – Anything Chris Buttars Says

Deseret News ranks legislators' attendance and voting records

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:09:05 -0600

The Deseret News takes a break from reporting on American Idol contestants to evaluate how often our state legislators actually manage to vote on bills:

The analysis shows that the typical legislator made it to three of every four votes in committee, and nine of every 10 on the floor. It shows, in this election year, who were the best attendees and the worst. But it also revealed some strange happenings. They include:

Because of rules loopholes to accommodate legislative leaders, a surprising number of committee votes occur without a majority of committee members present. Sometimes as few as two members of a six-member committee were present for votes, but it was still considered a legal quorum.

In half of all joint appropriations subcommittees votes, fewer than a majority of Senate members assigned to that committee were present. (Sometimes only one senator was present to represent the Senate in such budget votes.) House members have long complained that poor attendance at such meetings by their Senate counterparts make it difficult to conduct business. Some budget chairmen have resorted to holding votes at only the last meeting or two of the session, making it easier to round up wayward senators for a quorum.

The lowest voting percentages are by legislative leaders, who say they are often pulled away for meetings on individual important issues. The leaders' attendance in their assigned committees is often much worse than, say, regular members who are battling a serious illness, like cancer.

Poll: Only 32% of Republicans want Buttars re-elected

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:06:39 -0600

Holy dark ugly baby, Batman! (Deseret News):

[Dan Jones & Associates] found that among Buttars' Senate District 10 voters, 67 percent said they prefer that Buttars not be re-elected, and that someone new should be elected in that state Senate district. In fact, 53 percent said that Buttars "definitely" should not be sent back to the Legislature. [...]

Among Republican registered voters in Senate District 10, Jones found that only 32 percent of members of Buttars' own party want him to be re-elected, while 54 percent said another person should serve. Thirteen percent of GOP voters didn't have an opinion on Buttars' re-election, Jones found. Jones polled 208 registered voters in Senate District 10, with the results having a margin of error of plus or minus 6.9 percent.

That's a big margin of error (due to the small sample size), but even given the MOE, the maximum support Buttars would have among Republicans is 39%.

Statewide, the poll found that about 40% of voters wanted to keep their state legislators and about 40% wanted someone new. All 75 House seats and 15 of the 29 Senate seats are up for election this year.