A wide array of Republican candidates who have declared their intent to get on the ballot by way of signature-gathering may find themselves without a party affiliation after a special meeting of the State Central Committee Saturday.
According to UtahPolicy.com, Utah Republican Party Chairman Rob Anderson reported a small group of right-wing Central Committee members adopted a bylaw change that said the only way a candidate for U.S. House in districts one and two can get on the ballot is through the caucus-convention system. If a Republican candidate takes the signature-gathering route to the primary, he or she will lose party membership.
But at the same time, Republican candidates for U.S. House in districts three and four will be allowed to qualify by the signature-gathering method. Reps. John Curtis and Mia Love have already started gathering signatures in those districts.
Anderson said he considered the newly-adopted bylaws to be in violation of state law and the U.S. Constitution, and when that was confirmed by the party’s legal counsel, the attorney was fired by the Central Committee members in attendance.
The in-party squabble has been brewing since Senate Bill 54 was passed during the 2014 Legislative Session. The bill was seen as a compromise to Count My Vote, a citizen’s initiative aimed at election reform. The initiative backers claimed the caucus system was restrictive, and did not represent the views of the average Utahn. The compromise resulted in the signature-gathering route to the ballot, which was upheld by U.S. District Judge David Nuffer the following year.
As a Qualified Political Party under SB54, the State Republican Party must allow candidates to take both the signature-gathering route, the caucus-convention route, or both.
Carbon County Republican Party Chair Kendra Seeley said it’s still too early to say what the bylaw change could ultimately mean. “SB54 has been an ongoing issue with the Republican Party. The Legislature passed it – it is the law. This is a bylaw.” She continued, “I’m still waiting for some clarification from the Lt. Governor’s Office on how that’s going to affect our party and how it’s going to affect our candidates.”
The State Republican Party is also still in litigation over a lawsuit to overturn SB54. Seeley says the 10th Circuit Court has taken it under consideration but has not issued a ruling or indicated a time frame to do so. She said, “Currently SB54 is the law and we have to obey it.”
More than 50 Republican candidates have already signed up statewide to gather signatures to get on this year’s primary election ballot in June, including Mitt Romney, and State Senate President Wayne Niederhauser.
Local Republican candidates who have declared their intent to gather signatures for 2018 elections include Christine F. Watkins and Jae Potter for Utah House District 69; Alan Paul Riddle, Tony Martinez and Jake Mellor for county commissioner-surveyor; and Larry G. Jensen, Jay Darton Daugherty, Kendra Seeley, and Ryan Murray for Carbon County Commissioner.
Signature gathering may jeopardize Republican Party status
Kendra Seeley