This story says Republicans in Utah who want to run for office are uncertain as to whether they should petition onto the June 2016 primary ballot, or instead seek to win a caucus endorsement. Many want a special session of the legislature to settle the matter; others look to state courts.
This all stems from SB54 which altered how the parties are able to select their candidates for office. It was a last minute bill pushed through the state legislature by the establishment in an attempt to unseat Senator Mike Lee. Currently the parties select their candidates by local caucuses, then county and finally the state conventions. Defeating Lee via this meansn would be very difficult. It seemed clear that the effect on minor parties was not even considered when the bill was passed.
The grass roots republicans forced their party leadership to file a lawsuit which was done, but it appeared from the inception that is was pretty much window dressing to appease conservatives and that they really had no intention of winning the lawsuit. The Constitution Party could readily see that if the bill was held constitutional that it would pretty much destroy third parties and the party therefor filed a lawsuit along with with the Republican Party to oppose the bill.
Time and time again the Republican Party was late in filing the needed papers with the court(16 times in fact) including the final documents that needed to be filed. The judge was furious with their tardiness and therefor declined to accept the final documents which were late. However, the Constitution Party did file their documents on a timely manner and submitted arguments that the judge could clearly see were valid. He then ruled in favor of the CP and against the SB54 much to the dismay of the establishment. It was a major victor for conservatives and for minor parties. Had the bill passed it seemed to be a model to be used against third parties in other states. As the ruling now stands, the Constitution Party will be allowed to hold a convention to select their candidates and to allow only their party members to vote in a primary if such is held. Third parties are so small in number compared to independents that allowing independents to vote could easily defeat the candidates of the party’s choice. Had the bill been held constitutional candidates could have gathered signatures to get on the ballot and all Independents would have been allowed to vote in the Constitution Party Primary. The party would have had no choice but to hold a primary.
Had the Constitution Party not filed the lawsuit and filed the documents with the court on a timely basis the judge would have had no choice but to rule in favor of the establishment. The CP state chairman, Bryce Hamilton and a young attorney, Collin Simonson who is a member of the party get most of the credit for the victory.