The Utah Republican party began to move far to the right with Gayle Ruzicka, the Eagle Forum, and the Tea Party movement. In 2012, they successfully stopped Bob Bennett, the incumbent, from receiving the party’s nomination for United States Senate, giving the nod to far-right Mike Lee. Many Republicans in Utah were appalled, as it is almost certain that Bob Bennett would have been re-elected in a fair primary and the general election. This high-handed treatment of an effective and conservative incumbent prompted the Utah legislature to pass the bill for an alternative way to the primary ballot. The wisdom of this law has been shown in the election of Mitt Romney, John Curtis, and Spencer Cox, all of whom were elected by large majorities although they would not have been on the ballot at all if the caucus-convention route were their only option.

As to the assertion that the elected delegates have studied the candidates more closely and are thus more qualified to choose them, that is probably true for the relatively non-political positions. However, for the truly political positions such state legislature, governor, and US congress, political positioning outweighs competence at the county and state conventions. The raucous booing of our current governor at the state convention smacks of intolerance of anyone whose views don’t agree with the extreme right. I am grateful that because of the signature route to the primary ballot I have the opportunity to vote for candidates whose views more closely match mine.

Gloria Wheeler, Provo