Will Demos keep moving to the right?

PROVO — A struggle is brewing over the direction of the small Utah County Democratic Party, and party members will have a clear choice between moving left or right when they vote on new leadership Tuesday night.

Both sides believe the time is ripe for making Democrats relevant in local elections. So which way is best?

Should the party continue a move to the right, where it can court moderates among the LDS and other conservative voters who dominate politics in Utah Valley?

"Our main focus is to make the party viable," said Richard Davis, a political science professor, running for county party chairman with two other Brigham Young University instructors and another member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Or should the party move back to the left, away from a more centrist platform adopted last year that included an abortion statement similar to the policy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

"The language in there was very offensive to just about every woman I knew," said Mary Lou Huffmon, who is opposing Davis with two other women and a male BYU student.

This is the first time in years that there has been a contest for the county chairmanship.

On one side is Davis and his "New Utah County Democrats": vice-chairman candidate Larry Brown is a businessman and former Alpine City Councilman; secretary candidate Hinckley Jones-Sanpei is a full-time homemaker and part-time researcher and BYU instructor; and treasurer candidate Kristin Gerdy is a BYU law professor.

On the other side is Huffmon and her "Daily Democrats": Vice-chairwoman nominee Kena Jo Mathews is executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Utah County; secretary candidate Christopher Stowe is a BYU student and president of the Young Democrats of Utah County; and treasurer hopeful Millicent Lewis is a stay-at-home mom, artist and the party's special events chairwoman.

Last June, Davis and many who now endorse the New Democrats spearheaded major changes in the county Democratic platform, a document clearly intended to reach out to moderate Republicans with conservative social values.

The reason was obvious. Registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats in Utah County 111,541 to 9,602. More than 107,000 registered voters are unaffiliated, most of whom vote GOP, Utah County elections coordinator Sandy Hoffman said.

In addition to the plank on abortion, the new platform stated, "Like most Utahns, we define marriage as the union of one man and one woman."

"It's being very patronizing to the gay community," Huffmon said. "I'm not LDS, and I think the LDS stand on gays is way behind the times. Just as they moved on other issues in the past, I believe they'll move on this issue in the future."