For the first time since 2018, the party caucuses were held, with turnout that county party chairman Skyler Beltran considered typical for a non-presidential year.

“We saw good participation throughout the county. Great to see so many people willing to serve and make a difference in their community. The Republican Party (is) thriving in Utah County,” he said.

Despite the snow, residents came out to make their voices heard in the gatherings — the first step in the swift process to decide Republican candidates in a state represented almost entirely by the GOP across every level of government.

Residents took to social media throughout the night to share their experiences at different caucus locations. Sarah Haley Nitta tweeted that there were 11 people at her caucus in Cedar Hills and that, according to the precinct chair, there were 120 people at the last caucus in 2018.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

Saratoga Springs resident Cameron Robinson, in a thread shared during the caucus, said that both his neighborhood chair and vice chair are transplants from Idaho and Missouri, respectively.

In the end, Robinson tweeted, “And we’re done. 30 people, one and a half hours. Caucus has changed.”

According to Beltran, having a number of high-profile races helps drive turnout. He named the U.S. Senate race, led by incumbent Sen. Mike Lee, as the most enthusiastic race. Beltran also called it “exciting” to have two different races for county commission in the same election cycle, enough to have a majority of the body, and pointed out unusually high attention on the three-person race for county attorney.

For one Provo precinct, caucus night meant a gathering of 10 in an under-construction restaurant on Center Street. Sitting in chairs borrowed from the stake center, the party leadership went over the platform and discussed prominent issues — voting security, Ukraine, gas prices, etc. — before voting on precinct leadership.

Leading the conversation for Provo Precinct 365 was Vickie Wilker, the caucus chair who was reelected to the position Tuesday.

Addressing the small gathering, Wilker said she hoped to increase the size of the group by the next caucus in 2024. “Start getting the word out. Right now,” Wilker said.

While there was no discussion of specific candidates for office during the meeting, Wilker and Eric Speckhard, the precinct’s state delegate, felt it was productive nonetheless and a great way to let the delegates get a sense of their neighbors’ feelings before the conventions. They can use the conversations as a basis to determine who to support for office that best reflects their precinct’s proclivities.

Before the meeting could end, there was casual conversation surrounding voting in Utah. Several of the caucus attendees were in agreement, though, that voting should be done in person on Election Day — some for the thrill, others over purported and unsubstantiated risks associated with mail-in voting.

In the northern parts of the county, some precincts participated in a pilot program to vote on leadership throughout the evening, as opposed to one single vote at the same time during the meeting. According to Beltran, feedback showed an average caucus time between one hour and 90 minutes.

The county convention will be held at Eagle Mountain High School on April 9 and the state convention will be April 23.