7 of 24 races face primaries

Folks may grumble that their incumbent lawmakers are maybe too conservative or not conservative enough.

But Democratic and Republican party delegates in Utah's three most populous counties by and large seem satisfied with their incumbents, as was evident at county conventions held Saturday in Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties.

Most incumbents not only won, but they won handily. And those who didn't all have a chance to redeem themselves during a primary election. No incumbents failed to advance in their races.

It seemed to send the message that even though Democrats may have had a lot of rhetoric about the evils of Republican domination and Republicans may have groused about those nasty Democrats, the real enemy is primary elections that drain money from a candidate's general election campaign and weaken the party's chances in November.

Of 24 Democratic and Republican legislative races that could have gone to a primary election, only seven will be on the June 22 ballot. Only four involve incumbents, one each in Salt Lake and Davis counties, and two in Utah County.

The county conventions are a prelude to the May 8 state conventions and a chance for partisans to practice their campaign war cries. And it was a forum for statewide candidates — in the case of the GOP the eight remaining gubernatorial candidates — to plead their cause to a room of party faithful.

Salt Lake County

Six GOP legislative incumbents were challenged within their own party during Saturday's Salt Lake County Republican Convention at the Salt Palace. Five won the nomination outright by garnering 60 percent or more of the vote.

The only incumbent who will face a June 22 primary is Rep. David Hogue, R-Riverton, who mustered only 46 percent of the vote compared to challenger George Holling's 54 percent.

In fact, Hogue's race is the only primary election contest among any of the Republican legislative races. Observers say Hogue is caught up in a bigger political dispute involving Riverton city politics, and that played out in the county convention.

Hogue is considered a moderate. In the caucus meeting, Holling said he strongly supports parental rights. Hogue said tough decisions must be made in public education, and admitted that he's taken stands disliked by GOP legislative leaders.