28-05-2025
Utah Democrats to elect new party chair, Pritzker speaks at organizing convention
SALT LAKE CITY () — Utah Democrats will be electing new party leadership at their party's organizing convention on Saturday, May 31, at Ogden High School, and will hear from one of the nation's boldest , Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
That new leadership team will face big questions of how to capitalize on local gains while the national party faces something of a post-election crisis.
As for Pritzker's appearance, it comes on the heels of he recently gave to donors and party faithful at New Hampshire's Democratic Party's annual McIntyre-Shaheen dinner, calling for 'everyone everywhere' to fight Trump's message. He is also rumored to be considering .
'Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now,' the billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune and Governor said to New Hampshire's democrats. 'These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They must understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have. We must castigate them on the soap box and then punish them at the ballot box,' Pritzker said.
While Democrats nationally look to coalesce around a leader, two of the four candidates running for Utah's party chair recently joined to break down how they intend to tackle both the local and national perils facing their party.
The candidates for Democratic Party Chair include Brian King, a former longtime state representative, and Ben Peck, former Executive Director of the Salt Lake County Democratic Party. The other candidates, Johnathan Lopez and Archie Williams, did not respond to requests to join.
The following is the interview with King and Peck, transcribed in full:
Lindsay Aerts: It is no secret that Republicans dominate this state, and we live in a super minority here in Utah, but Utah Democrats, they've not been elected to a statewide office in about three decades. How do you change that?
Ben Peck: Well, it's not going to happen overnight, but I think that what we need to start doing is competing everywhere.
We've heard a lot from the DNC now about going back to a 50-state strategy, and I think that we need to do a similar thing here in Utah. We can't just focus on a couple of districts in Salt Lake County. We need to be competing everywhere, all across our state, down in the south, and every part.
We need to be showing up, and a lot of people probably have no idea that there is a Utah Democratic Party because they've never seen or heard from them. So we need to change that, and that's what I want to do as party chair. Brian, let me pose the same question to you.
Brian King: I think we've got to have a message that resonates with Utahns. I think we've got to be communicating about things that they care about, the problems and issues that they deal with on a day-to-day basis. What we see from way too many Republican office holders and candidates is culture war issues, trying to push our emotional buttons, trying to divide us, trying to talk about things that are diverting our attention from the things that people really care about and need to hear about.
We as Democrats are addressing policy issues that people care about and that they deal with in their day-to-day lives, and I think we have to make sure people understand that.
Lindsay Aerts: Talk to me about why you each wanted to run the Democratic Party in Utah. It's a tough sell right now for a lot of people. Candidates don't feel like they've got a party that can really bolster them and get them elected. Again, statewide candidates haven't been elected, so why did you want to take this on?
Ben Peck: Well, honestly, that's a lot of the reason why I wanted to take it on is I've worked with candidates for the past seven years here in Utah, helping them get elected, and I'm close friends with many of them, and it's incredibly disheartening to feel like the party doesn't have your back, that it's not effective, and ultimately that's why I wanted to jump in is because I know that I have the skills and the dedication that we need. I am at a point in my life where I can dedicate my entire working days to this, and I just… I can't imagine doing anything else with what we're seeing nationally and here locally.
Brian King: Well, when you have a supermajority in the legislature, you basically have a monopoly on political control here in Utah, and monopolies are no good for people. I mean, they're terrible for consumers, of course.
We all know that, but what people don't recognize as clearly is that the monopoly that the Republican Party has on state policy and politics right now is no less harmful. It's incredibly bad for the future of the state of Utah to have one party calling all the shots, so having a more competitive environment is something that I've worked… tried to accomplish at the legislature, and we've got terrible things going on at both the federal and the state level right now, and I saw that. I saw the election of Donald Trump, and I just thought this is something that I want to be a part of in terms of trying to communicate more effectively to Utahns about why it is that the Democratic Party reflects their values and priorities.
Lindsay Aerts: Let me ask you why. Why do you believe that the Democratic Party reflects Utah values? Again, we do live in a majority Republican state, so talk to me about your platforms and how and what you believe about the party.
Brian King: Well, there are a lot of things that I think, ways in which the Democratic Party lines up with Utah's values, but probably the most important one that we see being infringed on right now is we need government back in its position where it needs to be. We need it out of our lives.
We need it out of our homes. There's government overreach by this legislature and by Donald Trump and his administration left and right, whether it's what books we can read and have our children read, whether it's reproductive rights, the government telling us about when, as between communications between pregnant women and families and their doctors, what they'll do, when they'll do it. Those are all things that are just not in line with Utah values.
So, the first thing I think is government overreach is a real problem.
Ben Peck: Well, I completely agree with what Brian said about government overreach, and I do think that that aligns very well with a lot of people. I grew up in Riverton, Utah, two Republican parents.
All of my friends that I grew up with were Republican, and I think that the message of getting the government out of our lives is absolutely something that we should lead with. In addition, I believe that we have something to offer and that we believe that public servants should be servants of the people and should not be getting bribes or being corrupt in any other way. We believe that morality shouldn't stop when you take the oath of office, if anything else.
It should be more so, and we also believe that people who put in a full day's work should be able to afford to live. Those are very simple things that resonate, in my experience, with a lot of voters all across this state.
Lindsay Aerts: We've spent some time criticizing Republicans here, or I should say you guys have, but how do you work with them? In a state like this, you can't get anything done unless you work with them. What is your philosophy on that?
Ben Peck: Well, I do think realistically we do need to work with them. I don't necessarily believe that it's the role of the Utah Democratic Party to do that.
I understand that our legislators need to do that, and our elected officials will need to do that. What I think the job of the Democratic Party, though, is to give our vision and get our candidates elected, and then our elected officials can negotiate once they're in office.
I don't want to start negotiating before we even have power, but I do think that there are opportunities for us to work with other Republicans on specific issues. Tyler Clancy, I disagree with him on a lot of issues, but he and Representative Matthews have also come together to do a lot of good things for working people, so I think that there are those opportunities. Brian, you've had to work with many a Republican from your days in the state legislature.
Brian King: I think it requires good social skills and working relationships on a personal level. Once you get to know someone personally, you find that some of the political differences that kept you apart before become reduced and lowered, and you can get things done. But I also think it's true that the party leadership needs to recruit candidates for office that are attractive to Utahns, that reflect Utah values, and that they themselves will be in a position to be able to work with Republicans.
It is true, of course, in a super-majority state like ours, when you're in the super-minority status, you have to figure out how to get votes from Republicans, and you do that by finding common ground and by listening to the people and what they want. And then when you have an idea about what they want, you go to your folks on the other side of the aisle, your friends, and sometimes even your enemies, and say, can't we find some common ground to address this specific thing that Utahns want?
Lindsay Aerts: Part of what the party needs to do for its candidates is help get them raising money, right, as part of that apparatus, too. Brian, is the party solvent right now? How do you raise money? How do you fundraise? How do you get your big donor class? There are Democratic donors in the wings here in Utah who don't feel like they have a party to give to. How do you change that?
Brian King: Thank you for that question. It's a great question. The party is solvent right now. Diane Lewis and the leadership team that are the current party leaders have done a good job in making sure that we're in the black, not in the red. But there is great opportunity to approach, as you say, people who are very interested and involved in national politics and haven't really committed themselves or invested in local politics with the Utah State Party. I think that there's great opportunity to speak with those individuals and help them understand that there's real value in investing locally, especially since the Democrats are out of power on the national level.
Utah's where we need to get support and investment for building a party from the grassroots, from the bench, to win elections in Utah.
Ben Peck: We are, thankfully, solvent. Over the years, the Utah Democratic Party spends about a million dollars a year, which I think would shock most people because it doesn't seem like we're getting much for it.
I think that that's also part of the reason why it's been hard for us to expand beyond that. We've been level in our fundraising for many years. These donors that you're talking about, like up in Park City and Summit County, that spend millions of dollars donating to Democrats across the country, the way that we convince them to keep their money here is by showing them that we can actually win here.
I think that having someone like me as chair, who has a proven track record of winning competitive elections, getting Democrats elected here in Utah, I can go to them and credibly tell them that I have a plan. I have done this before. I can get Democrats elected here.
That's how we convince them to bring their money back home.
Lindsay Aerts: Your convention is coming up on May 31. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is going to speak at that convention. He has been seen as a national firebrand for your party to be able to unite the opposition against President Donald Trump. How does he bring his message to Utah and resonate? Why is that get, so to speak, for lack of a better word, so important, Brian?
Brian King: I think Governor Pritzker has been very clear and direct in standing up for speaking about values and things that Democrats across the country, not just Democrats, but regular Americans have been concerned about from the Trump administration. We like, I like the fact that he's direct, that he's unequivocal, that he has some fire, and that he has some focus.
And I think that the delegates are going to appreciate hearing that. And I think many, many Utahns, of course, there is a substantial number of Utahns who are Donald Trump supporters and you're not going to move them, but there are a lot of Utahns who are disillusioned, they're disappointed with that, with what we see from the Trump administration. J.B. Pritzker is a great spokesperson to come out and say, here's what we need to do differently.
Lindsay Aerts: Ben, what's the message that Utah Democrats need to hear at their convention to bolster the party, to give them some sense of hope that, like you both believe, Democrats have a shot at getting some statewide representation?
Ben Peck: Well, I think that, like Brian said, one of the best things about J.B. Pritzker, Governor Pritzker, is that he can rile up a crowd. He tells it like it is. He just is very brash.
And I think that that's something we've been missing here. I mean, yes, Utahns are nice. That's a thing we hear a lot.
But also people like when you're honest with them, when you're direct. And that's what we need more of in this party. And I think the message we need to take to people is we can win, but it's not going to be easy.
And we need you to buckle down with us and do the work. And we're not going to apologize for being Democrats. We're not going to be ashamed of it.
We're not going to just try and get a couple of pity bills passed every year in the legislative session. We're here to win. And I think people need to hear that message. We're not here to just get a consolation prize. We're here to win.
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