This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

Donald Trump is winning in the polls in Utah, but his support is tepid at best and most Utahns view him unfavorably. The best thing he has going for himself is that Beehive State voters hate Hillary Clinton more than they do him.

The enthusiasm for the Republican presidential candidate wanes compared to four years ago, when adopted favorite son Mitt Romney, the first Mormon to be a major political party's presidential candidate, was on the ballot.

So you would think having a relatively unpopular figure at the head of the Republican ticket would provide an excellent opportunity for Utah Democrats to pick up some seats in local swing district races.

Among legislative races, there are several that could go either way. Three races in Salt Lake County two years ago seemed to go the Democrats' way, only to be flipped several days after the election once all the absentee and provisional ballots were counted.

So there should be a big opportunity to pick up a few seats in the Utah House, which Republicans dominate 63-12, perhaps.

Nah.

You have to remember, the Democrats are experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Realistically, the Democrats never did have a chance in the statewide races. The last Democrat to win a statewide race was Utah Attorney General Jan Graham in 1996.

But even with guaranteed runaway victories for the Republicans in the statewide races, the Democrats seemed to go out of their way this year to make it even easier for the Grand Old Party.

Democratic Attorney General candidate Jon Harper suddenly drops out of the race due to health reasons on the eve of his scheduled debate with incumbent Attorney General Sean Reyes. It's too late to replace him, so the Democrats have no candidate in the A.G.'s race.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Weinholtz reveals his wife is being criminally investigated for using medical marijuana and has a fundraiser at a performance of "Saturday's Voyeur," an annual parody that makes fun of Mormons, the largest single group of voters in the state.

The Democrats nominate Misty Snow, a transgender grocery store clerk, to run against incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Lee, whose favorable ratings have often hovered under 50 percent.

Nothing against transgender people or grocery store clerks, but politically, it's not going to fly with the mostly Mormon voters (see Mormon reference above regarding the governor's race).

But, while the statewide races are hopeless for Democrats in Utah, they should have a realistic chance to pick up a few legislative seats in districts that have gone either way over the past few years.

They seem, however, to have gone out of their way to squander that opportunity.

In the Ogden area's District 10, represented by Republican incumbent Dixon Pitcher, the Democrats ended up with a candidate who can't campaign due to health reasons. And this is a district that was represented by Democrat Lou Shurtliff for several years.

Jesus Garcia, the candidate the Democrats nominated in that district, is too sick to run a campaign, according to his doctor, so he tried to withdraw from the race.

The Democrats were set to replace him with Eric Irvine, who was the Democratic candidate two years ago, but due to bad communications between the party and the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Elections Office, Irvine didn't file in time so he can't be on the ballot.

In Salt Lake County's House District 33, a swing district, the Democrats nominated Peter Tomala to run against Republican incumbent Craig Hall. But Tomala couldn't get his profile submitted to the Lieutenant Governor's Office before the Sept. 9 deadline, so voters accessing the voter information site to read candidate profiles will not be able to learn anything of note about the Democrat running in that district. And this was something he could have written about himself, making him look as good as possible.

Then there is the Salt Lake County Council, which the Republicans control by a slim 5-4 advantage.

Republican incumbent Michael Jensen resigned as chief of the United Fire Authority recently after questions were raised about his compensation, particularly his bonuses.

That, you might think, could make him vulnerable in his re-election bid this year. But the Democrats failed to file a candidate against him so he's got a free ride. —