Democracy for Utah - State Party

Anti-voucher strategy worked in Davis and Weber Counties

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:54:55 -0700

Utahns for Public Schools, the group that successfully organized to defeat vouchers at the ballot box last year, were aggressively involved in several legislative races this year with the express purpose of defeating pro-voucher lawmakers.

Those anti-voucher warriors in the north developed a strategy to take out pro-voucher Republicans with other Republicans. The premise was that no matter how disappointed the voters are with their incumbent — and voters displayed a good deal of disappointment in the voucher referendum — they will still vote Republican.

Voucher opponents in Utah County, where much of the strength of the pro-voucher movement is centered, decided on a different path. They would find some of the most respected leaders in the community, people with basic conservative leanings, and run them as Democrats, hoping the voucher debacle would form a crack in the Republican stronghold.

The northern strategy was largely successful. The Utah County strategy was not.

Evidence that Salt Lake County is turning blue(r)

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:02:47 -0700

Salt Lake Tribune:

In a battle of brand names, Democrats beat Republicans in Salt Lake County for the first time in years.

Republicans have traditionally had more straight-party voters, but that wasn't the case last Tuesday. Democrats claimed 51 percent of the straight-party votes, while Republicans had 48 percent.

"Clearly things are moving in our direction," said Utah Democratic Party Executive Director Todd Taylor.

According to Weston Clark of the Salt Lake County Democratic Party, the county will be sending three more representatives to the state House and one more senator to the Senate. Plus, with the successful campaign of Jani Iwamoto, Democrats finally have a majority on the county council (Salt Lake Tribune).

(I've heard that Utah Dems picked up two net seats in the Legislature; is that correct? It's like the state party went dark on Wednesday.)

Races still to watch

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:16:33 -0700

John Rendell vs. Chris Buttars (state senate district 10)
Jay Seegmiller vs. Greg Curtis (state house district 49)
California's Proposition 8 (end same-sex civil marriage in CA)

Voting resources and links

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:33:43 -0700

Find your polling location
Report a problem at the polls: call Election Protection at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683)
State election results
National election results:
- Daily Kos (click the button for Electoral Vote)
- CNN
- electoral-vote.com

Tribune endorses Democrat Bennion Spencer over Chris Cannon's replacement

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:28:29 -0600

Salt Lake Tribune:

The fuel that has driven the [Jason] Chaffetz campaign, and brought him a stunning 18-point victory over six-term Republican Rep. Chris Cannon in the primary election, is illegal immigration. Cannon's reasonable and humane policy — one of the reasons we endorsed him in the primary — was no match for Chaffetz' xenophobia. He would incarcerate undocumented immigrants in tent cities while they await deportation. And he would offer no "path to citizenship."

We agree with Spencer that the Chaffetz plan is a despicable display of intolerance for political gain, and that it does not represent mainstream values in Utah. Both candidates would improve border security, a good thing, but Spencer believes the government should crack down on businesses that knowingly hire illegal workers. And he supports creating an avenue for law-abiding undocumented workers to become citizens after payment of a fine.

For us, the chief difference between the candidates is that one has the instincts of a collaborative problem-solver and the other has the markings of a self-righteous zealot.

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.