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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Democratic Party lost state legislative ground in 2022 after new district maps were approved by Utah's Republican supermajority. But a group of young Democratic activists hope this year's efforts to reach voters statewide could flip a few red seats blue on Tuesday night.
Republicans have held a supermajority of at least two-thirds in the Utah Legislature since the 1990s, giving lawmakers latitude to pass legislation, override governors' vetos and introduce constitutional amendments. Republican Party leaders say they have a plan to keep their supermajorities in place.
The state Senate is currently made up of six Democrats and 23 Republicans — three seats more than is needed for a supermajority. And the state House has 14 Democrats and 61 Republicans — 11 seats more than is needed for a supermajority.
Democrats say they are within reach of closing those margins. If not this year then in two, or six, or eight, according to the room full of 15 or so full-time Utah Democratic "field organizers" who are behind the state party's biggest centralized push in recent memory.
"This is step one of a massive program to make Utah the next battleground state," said Elliot Kauffman, the coordinated campaign director who came to Utah after helping flip Georgia's Senate seat to blue in 2021 and helping to grow Vermont's Democratic supermajority in 2022.
Kauffman leads a crew of mostly college-aged staffers, who manage data collection software, mass-text campaigns, a call center and canvassing operations out of the Utah Democratic Party's Salt Lake City headquarters.
The effort involves Democratic candidates from the municipal level on up to congressional and statewide races pooling their fundraising dollars with the state party, which allows campaigns to work more efficiently as they take advantage of party volunteers and share campaign materials.
With a budget of around $180,000, the operation has reached out to nearly 1 million voters in the state, whether through door-knocking, internet messages or a phone call, according to Kauffman.
Energized by the replacement of President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's presidential nominee, these young party operatives believe the youngest, fastest-growing state in the country will be more open to Democrat's arguments than before.
Members of the staff, including the state party communications director, Mason Hughes, age 21, say they're also happy with the candidates they've recruited, calling them "the best slate of Democratic candidates we've had in decades" in the state of Utah. But beyond trying to expand Democratic representation in 2024, Hughes and Kaufman said they hope the party's increased investment in candidates will also increase candidate quality in future years.
What state Utah House seats are close this election cycle?
While some legislative districts have become less competitive since lawmakers redrew the boundaries in 2021, Democratic and Republican operatives see six state House races as up for grabs in 2024:
- House District 10: Democratic Rep. Rosemary Lesser is defending her South Ogden seat against Jill Koford, a Republican business owner who lost against Lesser by 500 votes in 2022.
- House District 26: Republican Rep. Matt MacPherson is defending his West Valley City seat against Democrat Jeanetta Williams, the president of the Salt Lake Branch of the NAACP. MacPherson was elected by GOP delegates in 2023 to replace Quinn Kotter, who resigned after winning his seat by less than 150 votes in 2022.
- House District 27: Republican Rep. Anthony Loubet is defending his Magna seat against Democrat Dawn Stevenson, a former educator. Loubet flipped this seat in 2022 by less than 70 votes.
- House District 30: This previously Republican open seat in West Valley City is being contested by former Republican Rep. Fred Cox and Democratic West Valley City city council member Jake Fitisemanu. Ater winning the seat by less than 400 votes in 2022, Republican Rep. Judy Weeks-Rohner is running to replace state Sen. Karen Kwan.
- House District 35: This previously Democratic open seat in Murray is being contested by Democratic Murray city council member Rosalba Dominguez and Republican Mike Bird, a former state party treasurer. Democratic Rep. Mark Wheatley is retiring from the Legislature after 20 years in the state legislature. He won reelection by more than 1,100 votes in 2022.
- House District 42: This previously Republican open seat in Sandy is being contested by Republican business executive Clint Okerlund and Democratic lawyer Travis Smith. Republican Rep. Robert Spendlove is retiring from the Legislature after winning by large margins in 2022 without a Democratic challenger.
Republicans skeptical of Democratic push
Even if Democrats held or flipped every one of these seats, Republicans would maintain a supermajority in the House. That's why the Utah Democratic Party views this year as just a piece in their long game to improve party infrastructure, with the hope that more Democratic-friendly legislative districts potentially will come in response to pending litigation against the Utah Legislature.
"Because of the Republican Supermajority's unconstitutional gerrymandering, Democrats have to work much harder and more efficiently to get elected," Utah Democratic Party chair Diane Lewis said in a statement. "To break the Republican supermajority, our focus can't be winning one race; it must be winning every competitive district for Democrats."
The way Utah's Democratic activists see it, the state GOP has become complacent with its consistent supermajority, creating a window for Democrats to persuade voters with a better ground game and fresh message. But Utah GOP chair Rob Axson says the state's dominant party is taking nothing for granted.
