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The “real” leadership election in the Utah GOP
While the main event at next week’s GOP convention is the race for party chair, there’s some intrigue boiling under the surface as members of the party’s State Central Committee are up for election, too.
In practical terms, the SCC is the real power behind the party. They’re the governing body for the state party and determine the direction of the Utah GOP. All of the county party leaders are members. The rest of the 180+ seats are filled through elections at the county and state level.
The Utah GOP is different from many other state Republican Parties across the country, as it has an active role in determining nominees thanks to the caucus/convention path. Others provide support to candidates because they have direct primary elections. So, a seat on the SCC carries a lot of responsibility...and a lot of power.
You’ll remember the Utah GOP nearly went bankrupt a few years ago under former chair James Evans. That debt was fueled primarily by the endless legal fight against the signature path for candidates established under SB54. Despite losing time and time again in the courts, the state party kept pushing the legal fight and racking up legal bills. That was money that could have been used to support candidates rather than tilting at legal windmills.
In 2019, there was an effort pushed by some of the more moderate parts of the party to oust many of the members of the SCC responsible for those legal bills. That campaign saw some success as several of the more hard-line members were ousted.
The same sort of effort is underway again this year, but it’s coming from both sides. There are slates of central committee candidates that have been proposed by moderates and conservatives, both at the county and state level.
Some of those helping the moderate slates of candidates tell me their goal is to keep the party apparatus focused on winning elections instead of getting sidetracked by internal squabbles. They’re hoping to avoid the rancor and infighting that marked previous iterations of the SCC makeup. This year, that realignment worked well as Republicans saw electoral success across the state and even re-captured a congressional seat they had lost in 2018.
What you need to know for Friday morning
— Tribune reporter Karina Andrew contributed to this story.