Salt Lake County is the political hot spot

Both parties gird for a real barnburner come November

By Bob Bernick Jr.
Deseret Morning News
Published: Thursday, April 27, 2006 10:16 p.m. MDT
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Utah is overwhelmingly Republican, but if there is a place where GOP politicians struggle it's Salt Lake County — a declared battleground this year for both major political parties.

Republican Party leaders vow to make inroads come November in county politics both in county and legislative races.

"We will be very aggressive this year," says Salt Lake County GOP chairman James Evans, a former Utah state senator. "We are going to define what the Democrats really are."

Democrats say they will hold their own in important races and keep two state Senate seats on the east side of the county whose Democratic incumbents are retiring.

"We are showing county voters that our officeholders are just like them," says Salt Lake County Democratic chairwoman Megan Risbon. "We reflect (county voters') values, the Republicans don't."

Voters may well find differences between Republican and Democratic candidates in the county, but if one is going on county party platforms don't expect to see such marked differences.

The GOP county platform proposed for adoption this Saturday is full of platitudes and broad-based statements.

There is no strong pro-life plank; nothing mentioned about gay/straight school clubs, same-sex marriage, private school tuition tax credits or hate crimes — all issues debated by conservative Republicans in recent Legislatures.

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And Salt Lake County Democrats didn't bother to adopt a new platform in their convention last Saturday. In fact, county Democratic leaders didn't even have a copy of the platform adopted in 2004, trying to dig one up at the request of a newspaper reporter. Finally, Risbon said there actually is not a Salt Lake County Democratic platform at all — "We just use the state party platform."

Compared to the state GOP's stand on abortion, the Salt Lake County GOP platform is obtuse.

For example, the state party has a "Right to Life" plank, which reads in part: "We believe in the right to life for both the born and unborn . . . We believe all human life is sacred regardless of age or infirmity, and therefore we oppose abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide and the public funding of any of these abhorrent practices."

There is no Salt Lake County GOP plank specifically on abortion. Under the heading: "Human Life," the county platform reads: "We believe that families and society have the responsibility to preserve and maintain the sanctity of human life."

By comparison, the 2004 state Democratic platform says: "Utah Democrats believe in a comprehensive approach that protects reproductive freedom while fostering personal responsibility and education for thoughtful and moral decisions about sexuality, childbearing, adoption and parenting."

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