DAILY HERALD | Posted: Saturday, January 19, 2008 11:00 pm
Joe Pyrah
It didn't take long for Utah County Democrats to come out swinging. Just three weeks into the new year, two relatively high-profile candidates have emerged as opposition to their GOP counterparts in a county that hasn't elected a Democrat who lives in the county in 14 years. The announcements are just the beginning, says party chairman Richard Davis.
"We're putting forth a major effort to provide Utah County voters with people they want to vote for and people who are better than the incumbents," he said.
Is it possible that Happy Valley's long-suppressed party will surface in 2008? While there are no guarantees, there are factors that make their chances better this year than in the recent past.
For years, the county party labored under a loose organization that held to national Democratic creeds. But in 2006, Richard Davis grabbed the reins. The BYU political science professor is well-respected and he's molding a party that comes off as more professional and focused.
"I don't know exactly what happened down here to make it fall apart," said Christian Burridge, who ran an unsuccessful campaign against Rep. Chris Cannon in 2006.
Davis's Republican counterpart, Marian Monnahan, said Democrats do seem to be getting things together.
"I think he is making an effort to do that," said Monnahan, who has spoken with Davis. "I applaud him for that and going with that."
Party infrastructure is critical in an election, Burridge said, because it results in more money and broader campaign reach. Burridge's name recognition in 2006 was only 40 percent, versus Cannon's high 90s, and he was essentially left to his own devices against the Republican giant.
It hasn't helped that the state party has been mostly absent here for years, say some Democrats. But with key issues like health care, the environment and the ever persistent education garnering more attention, the state party is reaching out to previously ignored areas such as Utah and Washington counties.
"Ideology is not the problem, the problem is you have to have infrastructure and an organization in order to be able to compete," Burridge said. "I don't think my message was wrong, I just don't think I was loud enough."
The message is the thing in Utah County. The Republican Party has long prided itself on conservative and family values. Two presidential frontrunners -- Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee -- go so far as to tout their religious beliefs. President Bush once said that his hero is Jesus Christ. That plays well in a county with a plethora of young LDS families.
The Democrats, in GOP literature at least, are the antithesis of that. Pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-intrusive government, anti-religion.
That's where Davis takes exception. Democrats here don't even resemble Democrats in Salt Lake County let alone the rest of the nation, he says. GOP party members he knew in liberal Connecticut while he lived there "would not feel at home here." The parties vary so much state-to-state that it's not fair to compare a stereotypical Democrat with a Utah County Democrat.
"There are not two major parties in the United States," Davis is fond of saying. "There are 102 parties in the United States."
Here that means being "socially conservative" and abandoning traditional party stances on issues such as abortion. What county Democrats won't abandon is the quest for more funding for education and the environment, and reforming health care.
"I'm a Utah County Democrat," said District 58 candidate Steve Baugh. "Moderate, centrist, believing in family values."
The party expects to trot out a number of candidates this year like Baugh, who's a popular former Alpine School District superintendent now working at BYU. Gwyn Franson, an educator, former Highland City Council member and wife of Mayor Jay Franson, recently announced her candidacy against Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland.
It's only the start, Davis says, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that the first two candidates are tied to public education. The party is banking on the voucher defeat last November to give it a much-needed boost.
"It is fair to say one party supported vouchers and the other supported public education," he said. "I think what we're seeing is educators stepping forward."
Vouchers may not be the panacea for the Dems' performance woes. While the statewide vote was 62-48 percent, the county vote was a much closer 53-47 percent. And Baugh's district, represented by Steve Sandstrom, was one of three that voted in favor of vouchers.
"I can't imagine (Baugh's message) would resonate too well there," Monnahan said.
While Republican candidate Mitt Romney's largest donor base is in Provo, and the Mormon maintains a sizable lead in any Utah poll, his national nomination is shaky at best. A recent poll published in the Deseret Morning News shows that while 17 percent of the state believes Romney will be the country's next president, 19 percent believe it will be Democrat Barack Obama. That may be good news for local Dems, especially if the Republican nominee is Huckabee.
The baptist preacher didn't make any friends when he took on Romney and the LDS faith in Iowa and New Hampshire. Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, says plenty of Republican friends have approached him saying they wouldn't be able to vote for the Baptist preacher from Arkansas if he were given the GOP nomination. That puts in question the straight party vote.
"It's good for us because people have to look at the candidates down the ballot," McCoy said.
If the presidential candidate is one the locals may not like, such as a Huckabee or socially liberal Rudy Giuliani, it may also drag down Republican turnout on election day. The Democrats have lost handily in the past, so even fewer straight party votes and lower GOP turnout wouldn't necessarily turn the tables. But it's a start, McCoy says.
There also a question of changing demographics in the county. No longer is it a sleepy valley south of the Big City. Earlier this year, population numbers blew right past 500,000, a number expected to reach more than a million in 15 years. A look at the country shows that often as populations grow, so do the number of Democratic voters.
Monnahan agrees in principal, but says the county isn't there yet.
"I see that in Salt Lake, I don't really see it yet in Utah County. A lot of the people coming here are from very conservative Republican areas."
While the Democrats may finally be putting together a more organized, more serious push, there's no denying the GOP strength in Utah County. It's telling that the last elected Democrat who lived here was Bill Orton in 1994.
And while Democrats rail against education funding, the environment and health care, those are all things that Republicans have on their plate. The $2,500 teacher raises last year will likely be repeated again this year and maybe longer if the economy holds up. There will also be a major push for health care reform in the legislative session beginning Monday.
"It's not as if the Republicans are ignoring this," Monnahan said. "They're trying to find solutions."
And it's not as if the GOP will be ignoring the Democrats this year.
"We're not taking anything for granted," Monnahan said. "We're going to work no matter what, as if we were running scared."