This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Gov. Gary Herbert nominated Sen. John Valentine to be chairman of the Utah Tax Commission nearly eight weeks ago, but the Utah Senate took its sweet time confirming their colleague to make the appointment official.

Why?

Senators confided to me what some in the Democratic Party have already suggested. They wanted to wait until after Aug. 31 to confirm the appointment that would oblige the Orem Republican to resign from the Senate.

Had they confirmed Valentine during their August interim committee day, which occurred more than three weeks after the nomination, and Valentine would have resigned then, his Senate seat would be placed on the general election ballot in November and a Republican and Democrat, selected by their respective parties, would vie for the seat.

But after Aug. 31, the replacement process changes. That's because ballots are certified on that date and county clerks begin printing them.

Instead of having an election, a senator who resigns after Aug. 31 is replaced by a special vote of his or her party's delegates within the district. The name is then sent to the governor for his official appointment.

State Democratic Chairman Peter Corroon cried foul last month when the interim day came and went and Valentine was not confirmed by the Senate. He said it was a deliberate attempt to keep the seat in Reublican hands instead of allowing the voters to make that decision.

That, however, is a bit of a reach. It's a safe bet that no Republican in Utah County was shaking in his or her boots over the prospect of a Democrat winning that seat.

Valentine's district is so Republican, the Democrats didn't even bother to run a candidate against him in 2012. The last time he had a Democratic opponent, he garnered nearly 90 percent of the vote.

Countywide, the Republicans are so solidly in control, the Democratic Party didn't even bother to field a candidate this year in any of the races for county office.

But the Senate did deliberately wait until September to confirm Valentine's nomination in order to avoid having that race on the ballot.

That's because the two members of the House who are in Valentine's Senate district had expressed some interest in replacing the 16-year Senate veteran, who served for a time as Senate president.

Had Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, or Rep. Kevin Stratton, R-Orem, been placed on the ballot as a special replacement for Valentine, that representative would have to resign from the House or find himself on the ballot for both the Senate seat and his current House seat.

Had one of them resigned to run for the Senate, the delegates would have had to meet to pick a replacement for the representative running for the Senate. Herbert then would appoint the delegates' choice, but that would only be good for the rest of this year.

When the new Legislature convenes in January, Herbert would have to make the appointment again.

As it stands, Valentine was finally confirmed during the Legislature's September interim day on the 17th and he will formally resign on Monday when he is sworn in as the new Tax Commission chairman.

And the Republicans in Utah County plan to wait until after the November election to pick a replacement, precisely to avoid the mess I just described if a House member is chosen to replace Valentine in the Senate.

Still, if a sitting legislator is chosen for the Senate seat and Herbert is forced to appoint a new representative, he still will have to do it again in January, just for good measure.