Utah Democratic Party

Utah Democratic Party
Chairman	Jim Dabakis Jim Judd, Vice Chair
Senate leader	Ross I. Romero
House leader	David Litvack
Headquarters	825 N 300 W, Suite C400, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103
Ideology	American Liberalism Progressivism Center-left
National affiliation	Democratic Party
Official colors	Blue
Website
Official website
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections

The Utah State Democratic Party works to elect Democrats to office in the state of Utah. The Utah Democratic Party, like other national, state, and county parties, maintains a party platform that lists general principles or issues of importance to members of the Utah Democratic Party^[1] and maintains a party organization at the state level.

History

Utah Democrats suffered during the 1970s and 1980s because of splits over such issues as the Equal Rights Amendment and the stands taken by the national Democratic party which seemed far too liberal for many Utah Democrats. Additionally, the national Democratic party, in the face of strong Republican activity, had written off Utah as a potential area of support for presidential campaigns. While the party gained some traction in the 1990's, it remains a clear minority in state politics.^[2]

State party organization

Party executive officers

Office	Office-holder
Chair	Jim Dabakis
Vice Chair	Jim Judd
Treasurer	Rob Miller
Secretary	Paul Pugmire
Executive Director	Matt Lyon

State party caucuses

The Utah Democratic Party recognizes 14 state-wide caucuses. Each caucus focuses on promoting issues related to their mission.

Caucus	Website
African American Caucus
Disabilities Caucus
Educators Caucus
Environmental Caucus
Healthcare Caucus
Hispanic Caucus	http://www.ushdc.org/
Labor Caucus
Pacific Islander Caucus
Progressive Caucus	http://www.udpc.org/
Rural Caucus
Stonewall Caucus
Utah Public Employees Caucus
Women's Caucus
Young Democrats of Utah	http://www.youngdemsofutah.org/

County party organization

Each of Utah's 29 Counties has a party organization, which operates within that county and sends state delegates to the Utah Democratic Party's ^[3] state convention each year. County delegates are selected at caucus meetings held on the third Tuesday of March in election years (even numbered years) and serve two year terms. In April, county delegates selected at the March caucus meetings gather at their respective county conventions to select state delegates and nominate county candidates or state legislative candidates where the legislative district is entirely within their county.

The Utah Democratic Party's ^[3] state convention is typically held within the first two weeks of May following these county conventions in election years, but may be held later in odd numbered years. At state conventions state delegates vote to determine the party's nominees in federal races or in state races where the district crosses county lines in what is referred to as a "nominating convention." A candidate must receive at least 60% of the vote at the nominating convention to become the party's nominee. If he/she falls short of this goal the nominee is determined through a primary. In Utah, Democratic primaries are open to all registered voters, but a registered voter may only participate in one party's primary. The Republican primary is closed to all but registered Republicans (Unaffiliated registered voters may change their affiliation on election day to vote in a Republican primary.)

In odd numbered years county and state delegates gather at county organizing conventions and the state organizing convention respectively to determine their county and state party leadership. Positions up for election at these conventions are party chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer. Together these offices make up the executive officers of the respective county parties and the Utah Democratic Party. A simple majority is sufficient to elect someone to each of these positions, though it may take up to two ballots in order to receive a majority of the delegates' votes. All county party chairs and vice chairs are automatically assigned to the Utah Democratic Party's central committee. Counties may have additional representatives in this body depending upon population.

Current elected officials

The Utah Democratic Party holds one of the state's three U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress

• U.S. House of Representatives
  • Jim Matheson; 2nd District

Statewide offices

• None

State Legislature

• Senate Minority Leader: Ross I. Romero
• House Minority Leader: David Litvack

Prominent Utah Democrats of the past

Governors

Simon Bamberger George Henry Dern

Henry Hooper Blood Herbert Brown Maw

Calvin Lewellyn Rampton Scott Milne Matheson

Senators

Joseph L. Rawlins William H. King

Elbert D. Thomas Orrice Abram Murdock, Jr.

Frank E. Moss

Representatives

William H. King Brigham Henry Roberts Milton H. Welling James Henry Mays Abe Murdock J. W. Robinson

Walter K. Granger Reva Beck Bosone M. Blaine Peterson David S. King K. Gunn McKay Wayne Owens

Allan Turner Howe Karen Shepherd William Orton Jim Matheson

See also

• Democracy
• Democratic Party
• Republican Party
• Republican Party of Utah

References

1. ^ The Utah Democrats - Community, Values, Reform
2. ^ http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/d/DEMOCRATIC.html
3. ^ ^{a b} Utah Democratic Party Website

External links

• Utah Democratic Party official website
• Official blog
• Utah Amicus

County party websites

County Party	Website
Cache	http://www.cachedemocrats.org
Davis	http://www.davisdems.org
Iron	http://www.ironcountydemocrats.com
Salt Lake	http://www.slcountydems.com
Summit	http://www.summitcountyutdems.org
Tooele	http://www.tooeledemocrats.org
Utah	http://www.utahcountydemocrats.org
Weber	http://www.weberdemocrats.org