The Salt Lake County Republican convention shows the party is beginning to make a change. More women and people of color are running for seats – and winning – at least at the convention level.
The typical Republican candidate is “white, male, Mormon and older,” said Dave Buhler, a political science professor at the University of Utah. In fact, a majority of the Utah Legislature fits that description.
However, that’s not what Republican Rep. Candice Pierucci experienced at the Salt Lake County convention on April 13. Out of 19 races, 12 had female candidates. In the end, two will move onto the June 25 primary election and four, including Pierucci, won the party nomination outright, meaning they will head straight to the general election on Nov. 5.
Christina Boggess will face Sen. Wayne Harper in a primary election. Tracy Miller will go up against Rich Cunningham in the primary to replace outgoing Rep. Susan Pulispher. And Amanda Bollinger beat controversial Utah School Board member Natalie Cline, marking the end of the road for Cline since she opted not to gather signatures to land a spot on the primary ballot.
Pierucci, one of the youngest members of the Legislature and one of 12 women serving in the House, said she was “excited about a lot of the different candidates” and was “excited about a lot of the outcomes.”
Not only did women win nominations at the convention, but some people of color also beat their competitors. Doug Fiefia won against Goud Maragani in House District 48 in the race to replace Rep. James Cobb. Carlos Moreno beat Sen. Daniel Thatcher in the Salt Lake County Council race as well. Plus, some millennial candidates broke the model of “older” candidates.
For Pierucci, having younger candidates throwing their hat in the political ring signifies a shift in the Republican status quo.
“I think more and more this is what the new Republican Party is going to look like. I think it's going to be reflective of young families, who are working to make ends meet,” she said.
“I think it shows a shift in eras where millennials are old enough, where they're really jumping in full-hearted in races. And I think it's exciting for a party to show how broad our base is and how broad it's going to get.”
But Buhler is hesitant to call it a “shift” among the Utah GOP, especially because delegates aren’t a full picture of the Republican base as a whole. He considers it more of a “slow, incremental change” where people who don’t match the Republican stereotype are “being successful.”
“I don't know that I call it a wave yet, but there still are these occurrences where people that are not older, white males are getting the Republican votes.”
Buhler added that more diverse candidates are rising in both parties. Across Utah, there are more women and minorities running for office and making it to elected office, which he considers “a positive thing” to have “more voices at the tables where decisions are being made.”
However, he noted the party still has work to do.
“We still have a long way to go if we think that our elected officials should reflect the population and the demographics of the state.”
