This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Akron, Ohio • The Utah delegation to the Republican National Convention knows many eyes will be turned its way when Donald Trump takes the stage Thursday evening to accept the party's presidential nomination.
Will the Utahns cheer or will they turn their backs on the candidate that they clearly have reservations about?
Spencer Stokes, a lobbyist and the former chief of staff to Sen. Mike Lee, offered some advice during a breakfast gathering at the delegation's hotel in Akron, Ohio, about 30 miles from the convention center in Cleveland.
"Pride needs to be swallowed tonight. We need to not look stupid," he said.
That got the attention of delegation chairman Phill Wright, a strong backer of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who quickly moved to the front of the room to respond.
"I'm very proud of the Utah delegation. We haven't done anything in the last three days that we should be ashamed of. We stood for principle. We have been respectful. Nobody in our delegation booed Trump," Wright said. "I disagree with anybody who says we've been an embarrassment or somehow we've said or done something to make Utah look bad."
Wright said Utah's delegates will rally behind Trump, if for no other reason than to oppose Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate.
"We will support our nominee," he said. "We may not agree with him on many things, but he is a heck of a lot of better than Hillary Clinton."
Stokes argued perception is reality and that by fighting to unbind delegates and pushing for Utah's votes to remain with Cruz rather than Trump, many see Utah as antagonistic to the candidate.
"All I'm saying is let's do whatever we can tonight to appear to support the nominee."
Twitter: @mattcanham