This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A disconnect is growing between the leadership of the Utah County Republican Party and many of the officeholders elected by that rock-red county's constituents.

In fact, some legislators tell me the county's party brass is becoming irrelevant.

If true, the GOP leadership would be joining the almost nonexistent Utah County Democrats in triviality, since the Dems are so out of it they didn't even field a candidate for a countywide race in 2014.

Part of the angst centers on an edict issued by recently elected county GOP Chairman Craig Frank, the former legislator who had to resign from the House after it was revealed he didn't live in the district he represented.

He tried moving to fit in the district, which was confusing since the boundaries were changing through redistricting, and finally attempted to re-enter the Legislature by running for the GOP nomination against then-Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, who crushed Frank at the convention.

The controversial edict is the Platform Education & Performance Advisory Committee, created by Frank, that, according to the resolution's language, would force legislators and other elected officials to pass purity tests before they could be endorsed by the party.

The resolution says the committee will "determine how UCRP platform principles may be used to measure Utah Legislature bill proposals."

It goes on to say that platform principles, as determined by this select panel, will be taught to elected officials. Those officeholders will need to account to this little Politburo for positions they take and bills they back.

Some legislators say they plan to ignore the resolution and any ideological or policy positions Frank and his committee try to impose on them.

Who would have thought? A revolution against Utah County GOP leaders led by Utah County GOP lawmakers.

When the cat's away ... • A longtime Utah County Republican activist, Lisa Shepard, was endorsed by Frank when she ran for a seat on the county GOP's powerful Steering Committee. She was voted down by the party's Executive Committee.

So Frank waited until a number of legislators and other relatively mainstream members of the Executive Committee were in Seattle, attending last week's National Conference of State Legislatures' annual convention, then held another vote.

The second time, with a number of absences, she was approved.

Utah power brokers • Much has been said about the significance of Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, being elevated to president of the NCSL. That means Utah has three top leaders serving in three top national positions at the same time: Bramble over the NCSL, Gov. Gary Herbert as chairman of the National Governors Association and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker as president of the National League of Cities.

There are others, including state Division of Risk Management Director Tani Pack Downing, who is national vice president of the State Risk and Insurance Management Association and will be installed as president in September.

Utah Highway Patrol Capt. Jess Anderson, who directs the governor's security detail, is vice president of the National Governors Security Association and is in line to become president this winter.

State Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden, is vice chairman of the Western region of the Council of State Governments, and Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, is treasurer of the American Legislative Exchange Council and in line to be that organization's president in 2018.

Utah: The mouse that roared.

Trump light? • Now that Herbert is in such a high-profile post as head of the National Governors Association, he might want to get a new joke writer.

Speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures last week, he tried to start out being funny.

He jested that when new NCSL President Curt Bramble was before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he confessed to cheating on his tax returns one time. So Peter commanded him to be the escort for a day to the ugliest woman in heaven. When NCSL Vice President Mike Gronstal of Iowa confessed to the same sin, he was ordered to escort the second ugliest woman in heaven.

Later, after Bramble had done his penance, he was seen with supermodel Cindy Crawford, who had acknowledged cheating one time on her taxes.

You can imagine how well that went over with the female legislators who made up nearly 50 percent of the audience.

At least the governor wasn't on a national stage during a televised presidential debate.