3/23/13 Special State Central Committee Meeting Report

The Utah Republican Party State Central Committee held a special meeting on Saturday, 3/23, in Sandy, for the express purpose of addressing possible changes to our Caucus/Convention system.  There were 103 members credentialed (out of 180). 

Our Caucus/Convention system has come under attack recently by a group who would like to push us into more primaries, direct primaries (no caucus/convention), open primaries (all parties could vote on who our Republican candidate should be), or primaries in which a candidate does not have to go through the Caucus/Convention to reach the ballot.  They are threatening to launch a ballot initiative to force the Republican Party to change how we nominate our Republican candidates for the General Election ballot (see this KSL article for more info).

Some of the major benefits to the Caucus/Convention method of selecting our Party’s candidates are:

1)  Decrease in the influence of money — good people can be involved and run for office without requiring fame and fortune;
2) Vetting of candidates is increased and media influence is decreased, resulting in higher quality candidates on the ballot;
3)  More people are able to participate in politics on more levels; when dependence on money decreases, dependence on volunteers and participants increases;
4) Increase in accountability of elected officials, who know and respond to delegates and their neighbors, thanks to a manageable number of delegate representatives and increased communication between elected officials and delegates.

The majority of input I have received from Utah County is that we support the Caucus/Convention system, but we are interested in improving, modernizing and streamlining Caucus procedures.  At the end of the day, I think a majority of the Committee agreed.  Improving upon an already fundamentally sound system is a good idea.

At our meeting, the State Central Committee members were asked their opinions on approximately 64 questions that covered the topics of Caucus Night, State Convention/Access to the Ballot, and Primary Elections.  We used electronic “clicker” voting to rate our opinions on each topic using a scale from 1-5 (1 being “no change needed” to 5 being “yes, major changes needed”).  Members were also allowed to share their opinions on each topic at the microphone.  The meeting was streamed live online, and you can access the recording on Youtube.  You can view the voting results here.

The committee’s task now is to formulate Constitution and Bylaws proposals based upon our discussions and voting, and present them for voting at our April meeting.  Look for my April email for more information about proposals.