Utahns mass at mass meetings

In small neighborhood houses and cavernous schools across the state, what could be a record number of Utah voters attended GOP and Democratic Party caucuses Tuesday night, choosing delegates who will, come party conventions in May, ultimately decide which candidates survive to face off in a primary election.

"It's the best ever," said Dave Palfreyman of caucus attendance in Orem. "It's unbelievable."

GOP gubernatorial candidates Parley Hellewell and Gary Herbert got a taste of overcrowded classrooms when 75 caucus attendees packed into one small classroom to hear their pitches.

"This is really grass-roots politics," Herbert said.

Party officials won't know for another couple of days how many people participated, but the sense was that attendance at party caucuses was way up.

"We had more people than two years ago, and two years ago was a record," said Joe Cannon, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, noting there were about 10 additional people attending his precinct meeting.

Democrats were also exuberant. A party caucus at Highland High School, the home district for Scott Matheson Jr., drew 200 supporters, much to the glee of Democratic faithfuls who hope to move him into the Governor's Mansion. The last Democrat governor to live there was Matheson's father.

"It looks good," Matheson said during Tuesday's turnout. "I have a support network."

Mike Reberg, district director for Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, brother to Scott, said this is one of the biggest crowds he has ever seen.

"I've been doing this a long time," he said. "Usually you have eight to 10 people in a room. There's at least 200 here, and it creates a buzz that's exciting."

Donald Dunn, chairman of the Democratic Party, said turnout was high across the Wasatch Front, even in GOP strongholds like Sandy and Davis County. It was especially high in west Salt Lake City and in the Sugar House area where multiple Democrats are vying for the same seat, he said.

"There were 180 people at the one I went to in Park City," Dunn said. "In Riverton, there were 50 where two years ago there were 15."

A recent Dan Jones & Associates poll for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV found that 15 percent of registered voters definitely planned to attend the party caucuses, and another 15 percent probably would attend. While that may not seem like a lot, historically attendance at mass meetings is dismal, usually 10 percent or less of registered voters.