According to this Deseret article, some Utah Republicans are so upset over a plan by the Republican Party to file a lawsuit over how the party nominates, they will raise money to fight the lawsuit in court. In 2014 the Utah legislature passed a bill that makes it possible for members of a party to petition onto its primary ballot, even if they didn’t show significant support at party caucuses. The Republican Party recently decided to fight the 2014 bill in court.
I think what I wrote yesterday, regarding the Democratic Party bosses in Illinois applies to the Republican Party bosses in Utah:
Not too surprised at the “politics as usual” played by the Republican Party bosses in Utah.
While I think political parties are and can be good for our republic (despite George Washington’s thoughts to the contrary), it is the political party bosses which are bad.
I trust this bill – if it was motivated to reduce the number of opposition candidates nominated – will fail. Regular party members should be given the chance to seek a public office via the party primary if they desire. But if none are forthcoming, the party leaders should have the right to find candidates so the opposition party’s nominees will not win by default.
This provision should also be allowed for a 3rd party, where it does not produce any candidates in its primary election; or if ballot access is obtainable only by petition, even after the petition is submitted and approved, if a candidate can be found within a reasonable timeframe, the party leaders should have the right to find a candidate to nominate.
Never overlook the power of the voter when given a choice. Although not quite the same situation as would apply to candidates in Utah, in California’s Top Two Primary in 2014, an American Independent Party member, George R. Williams, was able to persuade some 115 voters to write-in his name as a candidate for Assembly District 79. In the General Election, he polled slightly over 30,000 votes to the incumbent Democrat’s 49,000. Not too bad for a 3rd party candidate even if only a 2 person race.
To ensure that free elections remain in this republic, we should always allow alternative methods of allowing candidates to be nominated for public office.
Current Utah statute states that a “candidate” is someone who is selected by a registered political party.
Is it constitutional to ban independent candidates?
The Party complaint objects to making a “candidate” someone who files a declaration of candidacy.