As municipal and new school board races heat up in Utah County, opinions vary on whether or not nonpartisan local races should have endorsements from organizations and, if so, by which organizations.

In our fast moving, definition-changing world, two different people could have two completely different interpretations of the words, “I believe in conservative values.” With so many individual ideas of what conservatism is, any political conversation must begin with agreed upon definitions. It is our platform that establishes these definitions and provides quality control in selecting conservative, local representatives.

Municipal and school board elections are technically nonpartisan — meaning that the ballot won’t reflect a candidate’s party affiliation. But, the policies those elected officials enact will reflect partisan ideals. Policies regarding school curricula, data privacy, zoning decisions, taxation, housing density and law enforcement priorities all reflect ideological values listed in the platform, as do candidates’ views on parental rights, religious freedom and constitutional limit on government power.

These races are not exempt from partisan ideology; they just don’t have party labels on the ballot. That makes endorsements even more important. They give voters clarity in a system that often obscures it.

For many years, local political candidates have received endorsements from private organizations. These organizations endorse candidates to signal ideological alignment. Some of the organizations that participate(d) in local endorsements are: Utah State Democratic Party, Women’s Democratic Club of Utah, Planned Parenthood, Equality Utah, Democratic Municipal Officials (DMO), the Utah Central Association of Realtors, AFL-CIO, the Utah Educators Association (UEA), Stronger Together, Alpine Education Association, O2 Utah, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge, Utah Cultural Alliance, Lead Locally and even our sister county SLC GOP — to name a few. There is nothing wrong with candidates seeking endorsement or with private organizations having an endorsement process. Endorsements are one of the tools in the vetting process and individual voters value endorsements to varying degrees. The UCRP endorsement is the only endorsement based solely on alignment with our platform.

What does the endorsement process involve? Candidates complete an application and state whether they support the party platform. They participate in a series of meet-the-candidate events, helping to pay for the cost of the facility rentals with a small fee (that can be waived for anyone requesting a waiver), and are interviewed by the delegates from their area. To be endorsed, a candidate must receive 60% or more of their delegates’ votes — their own neighbors in their own communities. Multiple candidates in the same race could potentially all qualify. The delegates have every right to withhold their private organization’s endorsement because it requires an adherence to a specific set of principles. It’s not gatekeeping. It’s quality control. Using the platform to bring transparency to the process doesn’t divide people, it empowers them to make informed choices.

Local leaders who are grounded in principle are a valuable resource, unlike community cheerleaders that defer policy-making to their lobbyists. Local leaders have the opportunity to improve city and school board services, promote family-friendly neighborhoods, hold the line on municipal-controlled taxes and property taxes, scrutinize RDAs (or resist implementing them), secure millions in outside grants, protect property rights, resist public-private partnerships and favor the RFP process (the process for government contracts), and defend community values — all these benefits come from staying true to the principles in the platform. Having a representative who understands the proper role of government and is able to intelligently articulate the principles in our federal and state Constitutions is invaluable to a community. A local representative can stand like a rock in matters of principle and still get along with people — that’s a matter of character, and the two are not mutually exclusive. We need this level of conviction in our local representation now more than ever!

The Republican Party is not a social club — it’s a group with a set of commonly held ideas and convictions. These ideas are detailed in our platform — which can be found at ucrp.org. We exist for one reason: to move the principles in our platform into governance. If we don’t defend those ideas at every level of government, we risk losing them by default. That’s why endorsements matter, and that’s why Utah County Republican Party voters should support endorsements in nonpartisan races.

We should never apologize for standing up for our values! The future of our cities, our schools and our communities depends on it.

The Utah County Republican Party Steering Committee is comprised of Chair Cristy Henshaw, Vice Chair Charles Wood, Secretary Kirby Glad, Treasurer Mark Cluff, Mike Carpenter, Keri Guinn, Brooks Benson, Stephanie Whyte and Wendy Hart.