It's tough to say who's the youngest among the nearly 5,000 delegates and alternates headed to Boston, though, because Democratic Party rules don't require delegates to hit the legal voting age of 18 until the November general election.

Donald Dunn, Utah's state Democratic Party chairman, said the involvement of voters like Mulhern is "important for the long-term growth of the party." That's especially true in Utah, where Democrats have long been the minority party.

Mulhern's mother, the state senator, couldn't be prouder of her daughter's victory at the state convention. "People did not know she was related to me," Arent said. "She worked the crowds well."

Still, Mulhern does wonder sometimes if she'll be taken seriously because of her age.

"That's always a problem for teenagers," she said. "But I've never had trouble proving myself before. . . . At the convention, I went in and it was obvious I was a teenager, and I was able to prove to people that I was responsible enough."

Mulhern, who'll attend Brandeis University outside Boston in the fall, isn't sure what her own future holds. She's planning on a double major — history and, not surprisingly, political science.

"I've thought about journalism, I've thought about law and I've definitely thought about politics, either backstage, running someone else's campaign, or public policy," she said. "I don't know. I'm only 18. Give me a break."

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E-mail: lisa@desnews.com