17-05-2025
Opinion: Exclusivity will not fix the Utah GOP's caucus-convention system
As a Republican state delegate for the past 13 years, I am an active supporter of Utah's unique caucus convention system. Every two years, Utah Republicans and Democrats gather in neighborhood caucuses to elect county and state delegates. Those delegates then vet candidates and elect party nominees for county, state and federal office. During odd-numbered years, county and state conventions are held to elect leadership and consider party business. The annual Republican State Convention will be held this Saturday, and delegates will consider a proposal to amend the Utah Republican Constitution that would revoke membership in the Republican Party for any candidate who gathers signatures to get on the Republican Primary election ballot. This ill-conceived amendment should be opposed by delegates.
Current Utah law requires political candidates to declare a specific path to obtain ballot access when they file to run for office. Candidates choose to get on the ballot through the convention process, by gathering signatures, or a combination of the two.
I ran for Congress in 2024 and opted for both the convention and signature paths. Because I was a relatively unknown candidate with a limited budget, the convention process was especially important to my campaign. I spent hundreds of hours holding town halls, calling and visiting the just over 1,000 state delegates who represent hundreds of thousands of Republican voters in the third Congressional district. Many delegates took their job seriously and asked specific, issue related questions of candidates. Many other delegates chose not to engage in the process. I learned that delegate turnover is low and some delegates serve for decades. State delegates are also overwhelmingly male.
The Utah Foundation recently published a survey showing that while there are more women voters in our state than men, women make up only 37% of Republican delegates. Because one must attend their biannual caucus meeting in person on a Tuesday in March to become a delegate, voters with young children, disabilities or who work during evening hours are vastly underrepresented in the pool of delegates.
In 2024, our state Republican party decided to forgo the traditional June presidential primary in favor of a presidential preference poll held in conjunction with caucus night on Tuesday, March 5. Even with the added draw of participating in the Super Tuesday presidential poll, less than 10% of Utah Republicans turned out to the in-person caucus night.
This lack of representation has created a system where candidates emerging from the state convention often do not have the widespread Republican support to win primary elections. In 2024, none of the Republican convention winners of contested races for statewide office won the Republican primary. This includes the U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general and state auditor races. For Utah's three contested House races, only one convention winner won the Republican primary.
Some state delegates blame the disconnect on the large amount of money poured into primary elections by candidates who collect signatures. This is a fair criticism. With current requirements at 28,000 signatures for statewide office, candidates pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to signature-gathering companies to obtain ballot access. In some 2022 and 2024 races, candidates paid even more money to buy 'exclusivity' from signature-gathering firms (the practice of ensuring firms will not gather for one's opponents). This adds to the power of big money in Utah politics. A smaller signature threshold, with a requirement that candidates personally collect the signatures, would quickly remove the 'pay to play' state of elections in Utah.
However, a proposal to expel Republican candidates who choose the signature path does not address the weaknesses of the caucus system. It is an effort to protect the power of current delegates rather than improve representation.
Delegates and party leaders should work to expand participation among Utah Republicans. We must explore ways to better advertise caucus night to non-delegates and work to include those who cannot attend in-person caucus meetings on a Tuesday night.
A more successful caucus convention system will not come from greater exclusivity. A constitutional republic derives its power from the people. The people elect representatives who exercise that power. If delegates work to exclude the majority of Utah Republican voters, they will continue to erode our caucus system. The proposed constitutional amendment is a bad idea, and Republican state delegates who believe in the caucus convention process should oppose it.
