Prominent Utah Demos endorsing Kerry

Nearly three dozen prominent Utah Democrats are endorsing Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as their choice to be the party's candidate for president.

Many of them gathered on the steps of the Capitol Monday to announce their support for Kerry and to encourage Utahns to vote in the state's Democratic primary Feb. 24.

Kerry is already the front-runner in the national race for the Democratic nomination, easily winning primary after primary over a dwindling list of rivals. He is now also likely to add many of Utah's 29 delegates to his tally.

Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch, Kerry's spokesman in Utah, said the Massachusetts senator has the support of the state's mainstream active Democrats, including most of those elected to office here.

"He's captured the imagination of Americans and the imagination of Utahns," Hatch said.

Only a handful of Utah politicians, including Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, are backing other candidates. Anderson announced earlier this month he's behind former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who is seriously trailing in the race.

Among the politicians supporting Kerry are the two highest-ranking Democrats in the Utah Legislature, Senate Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, and House Minority Leader Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley City.

Dmitrich said he was impressed with Kerry because he can beat President Bush in November. "He is a winner. He is capable of winning," Dmitrich said. Goodfellow said Kerry "will make a great president."

Hatch said there's a chance Kerry might stop in Utah before the primary. The campaign won't make a decision until sometime after Tuesday's primary in Wisconsin. A Kerry aide in Washington, D.C., said the campaign is "not going to write off" Utah.

"We plan to aggressively campaign in the state. We're not sure at the present time whether John Kerry will be there physically," the aide, Dag Vega, said. "But we will have a strong presence."

Utah's primary, open to all state residents who'll be at least 18 by the Nov. 8 general election, comes a week before March 2, when voters in California, New York and other big states could all but end the race.

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