Utah to push on with early primary

Utah will still spend $3.5 million on a Feb. 5, 2008, presidential primary even though the small, very red state may be ignored as major presidential candidates flock to larger states holding primaries that day.

And a new Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll shows that 70 percent of Utahns don't want to spend that much money on a presidential primary, anyway. Only a fourth said the state should go ahead with the vote early next year.

California — which carries the largest number of Electoral College votes as the nation's most populous state — also decided on a Feb. 5 primary date a few weeks ago. All told, 19 states have either picked the Feb. 5 primary date or their legislatures are considering holding a primary, party caucus or convention that day, various online reports state.

If most of those states ultimately pick Feb. 5, it would turn that day into a nationwide mega-primary, with the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees likely picked on that day.

So, why is Utah spending so much money on a primary election that may be ignored or bypassed by presidential candidates who will be spending their time and money in more populous states?

"It's worth it to have a voice in a Super-Duper Tuesday," said Mike Mower, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s deputy chief of staff and spokesman. "For the first time, Utahns will have a meaningful say in picking both the Republican and Democratic nominees." Voting on Feb. 5 "gives our citizens an opportunity to participate on what is becoming a national primary election," said Todd Taylor , long-time Democratic Party state executive director.

"Without it, we'd be left out completely" — even if so many larger states joining the Feb. 5 date dilutes Utah's impact.

But Utahns are not enthusiastic about a Feb. 5 presidential primary here, the new survey by Dan Jones & Associates found.

Seventy percent of Utahns are against spending $3.5 million on a primary, 25 percent approve, while 5 percent didn't know.

Worse for state Democratic leaders pushing the primary, Jones found that 88 percent of those who said they are Democrats oppose spending the primary vote money. He found that 73 percent of political independents do not want to spend the money on the primary vote, while 62 percent of Republicans don't want the presidential primary.

Utah has not voted for a Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Utahns gave President Bush his largest majority of votes both in 2000 and 2004.