GOP officials battle over control of party

As the Utah Republican Party's state convention convenes this coming Saturday, party leaders and some grass-roots delegates are once again in a serious internal struggle over who ultimately controls the majority party in this state.

Outside political observers say that while the disagreement over who can amend the state GOP constitution and bylaws may seem like inside baseball to some, because Utah is so overwhelmingly Republican, how the GOP governs itself and nominates its candidates ultimately affects all Utahns.

From the mostly unwatched elections for county surveyor to the highest profile contests for governor and U.S. Senate, in many Utah races the Republican nominee is ultimately the winner; Democrats rarely matter.

For example, Utah has not elected a Democratic governor since 1980 and has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1970.

Party leaders' "vetting" of delegate-proposed constitutional amendments "is a massive power-grab," says Nancy Lord, Utah GOP national committeewoman.

Saturday, she and other delegates will propose not only two constitutional changes over the objections of party leaders, but also a resolution saying such amendments must come unfettered to the convention floor.

Leaders "are spitting in the face of the delegates," says Lord, who will send out a letter later this week to all state delegates making her case.

"Their ultimate goal is to turn the (Utah Republican) Party into a private club — and they are taking little steps at a time to do it," Lord said.

Such charges are nonsense, says Jeff Hartley, newly appointed executive director of the Utah Republican Party.

If convention delegates heard and debated anyone's and everyone's proposed amendments, "we could have multi-day conventions, and delegates could be making decisions on half-truths or just plain falsehoods without study or reflection. No one, including the delegates, thinks that is the best way to go," says Hartley, who has worked at a number of political jobs over the years.

The battle between some of a party's grass-roots 3,500 delegates and the upper crust that run the day-to-day activities of a party — like fund raising, candidate recruitment, turn out the vote — "is the classic tension inside American political parties," says Brigham Young University political science professor Kelly Patterson.

Should a political party be run "by the party elite, who may have the long-term interest of the party at heart," or should it be run by grass-roots delegates "who may have only a short-term commitment to the party" but may be in better tune with regular citizens? asks Patterson, who also directs BYU's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy.