In a solidly red state like Utah, a visit from two of the most progressive members of Congress isn’t expected to change the political landscape, but to organizers and attendees their trip doesn’t feel like a lost cause, either.
Around 20,000 people gathered at the University of Utah on April 13 to hear Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez on their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. The Jon M. Huntsman Center arena was filled to its capacity of approximately 15,000 while 5,000 others who couldn’t get a seat crowded around to view the speeches from outside.
Among the attendees was 11-year-old Ruby Hurtado and her mom Laura, who had already had a busy weekend. After a sleepover the night before and a trip to Lagoon the day of, Ruby was adamant on making it to the Sunday night rally.
“He seems like he is, so much hopeful joy and stuff that makes you feel like you have ability to fight back,” Ruby Hurtado said. “Meanwhile, our president, he kind of like sucks that out of the room.”
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have been traveling to states across the west in protest of the Trump administration. Their remarks center around returning government representation to working class America rather than millionaires and billionaires. Both expressed strong discontentment with the current state of the federal government and worry the country is regressing. Ocasio-Cortez even called out Utah’s congressional delegation for throwing their support behind a budget bill she believes will benefit the ultra-wealthy while leaving behind the rest of Americans.
“They know that it hurts working families from Utah, but they know that they are not there to serve the working class. They are there to serve themselves and the billionaires who paid them,” she said to a roaring crowd.
Ruby and Laura were both pleasantly surprised by the large turnout. While Utah is far from being a progressive playground, Laura felt the rally signaled people are deeply unsettled by current events.
“I think the fact that there's people walking all around that can't get in is a sign that the voting populace is pretty frustrated with what's going on and are looking for new voices,” Laura said.
Barbara Lance and McKay Mason were unable to snag a seat in the arena before it reached capacity. While they were frustrated, they believed it was necessary to show up. Lance, a 69-year-old retired Utahn, is worried about threats to her social security income that allows her to barely scrape by for now. Mason, a 39-year-old gay man, believed in showing up and speaking out. He doesn’t think Utah is like other red states and hopes Sanders’ message resonates with others who have concerns about the direction America is heading.
“Utah is a whole different animal,” he said. “And I think people are waking up and realizing even what's going on right now is not OK.”
Almost 60% of Utahns voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But Kamala Harris performed better than any other Democratic presidential candidate since 1964. An election results map from the New York Times shows many counties in Utah are shifting blue.
For Gabi Finlayson and Jackie Morgan, senior partners at the Utah-based political consulting firm Elevate Strategies, making Utah a battleground state is a long-term goal. But a visit from two progressive leaders, Morgan said, shows Utah is moving in the right (or left) direction. Utah was one of three reliably red states Sanders and AOC decided to visit on their tour.
“I think people are sick and tired of not being able to pay their bills and not being able to own a home, and not being able to get out of debt, and, you know, not being able to see a doctor. I think that that type of messaging does work here in Utah,” Finlayson said. “But I think by no means are we out here to say that Bernie Sanders is going to flip Utah blue.”
It also helps that Utah has been gaining national attention recently.
Utah became the first state to ban the display of pride flags in government buildings. It’s also one of the first states to prohibit local governments from adding fluoride into public water systems, a move Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, celebrated. The spotlight, Finlayson said, is helping big national players to look at Utah in a new way. She also believes that if Utah is forced to redraw its congressional district maps, the game could change drastically.
The Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez team denied an interview request with KUER about why they came to Utah. But Morgan has her own idea.
“If they're trying to build a movement they have to do that in hard places,” she said. “They have to come to hard places because that's where it's going to matter, and that's where it's going to make a big impact.”
Finlayson and Morgan agree that it’s going to take a while before Utah’s political pendulum swings the opposite direction. Even though they are inspired by the amount of people that showed up to the rally, they are also frustrated by what they see as a lack of momentum at the ballot box. The hope, they said, is for the political excitement on display at the rally to stay strong through midterm elections.
“That's going to make the biggest difference here, is actual electoral accountability. That is the only thing that politicians are responsive to for the most part,” Finlayson said.
