Constitution Party revels in vote

McGarr received 29.78 percent of the vote, but, unlike most third-party candidates, had only one opponent, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom. However, McGarr said he thinks most of the votes cast for him represented more than just protest votes against Sandstrom, who toppled incumbent Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, in the GOP primary.

"To get 30 percent of a vote in a two-way race against a Republican in the most Republican county in the most Republican state really demonstrates that there is dissatisfaction with the status quo," he said.

However, Dan Jones, who teaches political science at the University of Utah and is a pollster for the Deseret Morning News, said the votes likely reflect a disenchantment among voters of the candidates — not necessarily support for the Constitution Party.

"They're not happy with what they feel the Republican Party is doing in Congress and maybe in the state," Jones said.

In general, the real weight of a third-party vote, Jones said, is the message it sends to the two major parties.

"What they (third parties) are trying to do is to get a message across to the other major parties and saying, 'If you don't do something about these issues, we're going in another direction.'"

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