At the April 27 GOP nomination convention, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox took the stage to some cheers — and more than a few boos — before eventually telling the crowd he was “a little worried.”
“There are a whole bunch of people out there who want to get rid of this,” he pointed out to the delegates. “They're telling us that the caucus convention system has been hijacked by extremists who don't represent the real Republicans in our state and I hope we're not giving them more ammunition today.”
The convention overwhelmingly backed challenger Rep. Phil Lyman as the party pick for governor. Fast forward to the primary election, where party voters handily sided with Cox the incumbent. Even with the primary contest for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District too close to call, voters by and large chose candidates who took the signature-gathering method to get on the ballot (and, coincidently, weren’t as deeply aligned with Trump-infused politics).
In fact, state Sen. Mike Kennedy was the lone convention pick so far to emerge victorious in the primary race for the 3rd Congressional District.
Although it was a rough primary for the darlings of the convention, like Trent Staggs for U.S. Senate and Frank Mylar in the Attorney General’s race, don’t expect the convention system to go anywhere soon. It’s a favorite among GOP delegates like Faith Hall, who “wholeheartedly” stands behind it.
“It's a way for people to be more educated about the votes that they're making,” she said. “The fact that I could go and ask questions personally to Trent Staggs, to Carolyn Phippen, to Frank Mylar, that process is so crucial to a healthy democracy.”
Many delegates like Hall see a convention win as the only legitimate way to the primary. They think signature gathering — the path victors like Cox and Attorney General candidate Derek Brown took — is a pay-to-play option.
“It allows people to get on the ballot by money, rather than by being voted for by people that have taken the time to educate themselves on issues,” Hall said.
Signature gathering has also been a perennial target of lawmakers in recent years. It frequently makes its way into campaign speeches, but the most recent legislative effort to derail it did not get a committee hearing.
Lyman himself has taken aim at signatures. He and his running mate, Natalie Clawson, called into question the legitimacy of Cox’s signature campaign before Election Day and even insisted he should be given access to November’s general election ballot given his overwhelming convention victory.
The practice, however, is a tried and true method to mobilize voters.
“If you are getting on to the ballot via a signature-gathering route, what you are doing is a ton of canvassing just to get on the ballot,” said Weber State political science professor Leah Murray.
“Canvassing is a lot of work. It's a high labor cost, but hands down it is the best way to get people involved in politics to get them out to the polls.”
Signature gathering has become a purity test for many state GOP delegates, Murray said. If a candidate chooses this method “convention delegates are mad at you and they're never going to pick you,” regardless of what other policy positions they have.
Cox’s policies and accomplishments haven’t swerved outside of Utah’s red state nature. He’s advocated for and signed tax cuts, eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools and government offices and restricted transgender minors’ access to bathrooms and gender-affirming care.
“What's going to have to happen is conventiongoers have to stop seeing signature gathering as a litmus test of something wrong,” Murray said. “And more as an excellent skill in a tool belt for winning the election going on.”
For Hall, the future of the caucus system is in the hands of younger voters and their willingness to become more involved in the process.
“Young people can start being politically active by attending their [neighborhood] caucuses,” she said. “I think that's really crucial that we get young people involved in the caucus system so that they can start meeting candidates, start realizing how real and in our face politics is.”
Until more choose to participate in the convention, there are still growing ideological differences between those who opt to be delegates and everyday Utah Republicans.
“The primary voters feel very different from our delegates,” Murray said.
“I feel like probably that's always been developing right over the last decade as we've had signature gathering. But I think this election really shows the gap between them, the distance between them.”