If you live in Utah County, odds are you’ve seen numerous fliers campaigning for either seven-year incumbent Mayor Michelle Kaufusi or challenger Marsha Judkins.
On the bottom of one of Kaufusi’s postcards, it says “Postage Paid by the Utah Republican Party.”
That has raised some eyebrows among voters. After all, unlike states like New York, Utah’s local municipal elections are firmly nonpartisan by law, thanks to decisions made by lawmakers in the late 1800s.
“‘Paid for by the Utah Republican Party.’ Exhibit B, or perhaps C or D, in the inappropriate injection of partisanship in our local non-partisan elections. Provo is better than this,” reads one post in the Provo Forward Facebook group with over 100 comments.
However, even with that history and the reaction to the fliers, a political party can still assert its point of view.
Ryan Cowley, director of elections for the Lt. Governor’s Office, said there is nothing wrong with a party endorsing a candidate.
“They're just exercising their free speech, much like a candidate,” he said. “They can state that they're a member of a political party.”
According to Cowley, as long as “their names appear on the ballot just as the name,” endorsements are totally legal and above board. It's when money becomes involved in either direction, he said, that the law requires formal disclosures.
“If a political party or any organization expends funds to promote a candidate on the ballot, then that needs to be disclosed. If they were to pay for a mailing, pay for advertising, those types of things, the law doesn't prohibit it, but there would just need to be a disclosure there.”
That goes for both parties and candidates.
So far, Mayor Kaufusi has stated in campaign finance disclosures that she paid the Utah Republican Party just under $1,400. It was labeled for postage, as well as a small donation.
Her opponent, Marsha Judkins, a former Republican state lawmaker, also disclosed she paid the county GOP $50 for an “endorsement fee” earlier this year.
The Utah Republican Party has yet to publish its full financial disclosures for municipal elections.
The Utah County Republican Party website has a page dedicated to local endorsements. In Provo, they support Michelle Kaufusi for mayor and Hannah Peterson for City Council District 2.
Party Chair Cristy Henshaw explained that their endorsements highlight the most ideologically aligned candidate for their members.
“At some point, you do want to know whether or not the representative that you have is fiscally conservative, all these things where somebody is going to be able to have power over your money, over your property, how your community is run, all of those things fall under ideological lines,” she said.
The Utah Democratic Party has also endorsed several mayoral candidates, like Cottonwood Heights candidate Gay Lynn Bennion, but has stuck to traditionally blue cities. The party has not endorsed any Provo City candidates.
Cowley said he’s seen “more [party] involvement in the last few years” in municipal elections around the state.
Director of the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service Leah Murray explained that in a supermajority state like Utah, “a Democratic endorsement does not help, a Republican endorsement does.”
According to Murray, a GOP endorsement in a place like Utah County is almost like a “cue” for voters when looking over their ballot.
“So [for example], you could be like this candidate — the NRA likes or doesn't like — and based on your positionality to the NRA, then you've received a cue about that candidate,” she said.
“It's a shorthand. It allows voters to make a decision without doing a ton of extra information work.”
Candidates’ campaign finance disclosures can be found on city websites.
