At the Utah Republican convention Saturday, Gov. Spencer Cox wondered if all the nastiness, boos and insults he and some other candidates endured at the hands of delegates would give “more ammunition” to those who would like to discontinue the caucus/convention system.

The simple answer is yes. The conversation surrounding the future of selecting candidates is Topic 1 this week among those who follow and support political races. It’s not just about booing candidates or expressing differences. The behavior exhibited by some at the Salt Palace Convention Center Saturday was disturbing enough to make us wonder whether the system has outlived its usefulness.

Our conclusion is that it isn’t yet time to change the system, but that party leaders should beware.

We have long supported retaining the caucus/convention system in addition to the signature-gathering system for qualifying candidates for primary ballots. The two systems combined give registered Republicans the opportunity to choose from a diversified pool of candidates.

But that argument loses some of its luster when conventions are controlled by unruly and uncivil behavior. And when caucus night activities are so confusing or disorganized that only 9% of the Republican Party turn out to select delegates, as happened this year.

And while it’s true that candidates new to the political world may not have the name recognition or the resources to gather the requisite signatures, and that the caucus/convention system gives them an attainable route to the ballot, those advantages are lost when a my-way-or-the-highway ideology triumphs over common sense and productive debate.

It is both sobering and instructive to contemplate that, without the signature-gathering option as an alternative, Cox would have been denied a chance for reelection as governor. This, despite a Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll in February showing 50% of voters favoring him in the upcoming primary. The nearest competitor had 5%.

Over the last 10 years, convention delegates have often chosen candidates other than those preferred in opinion polls. Generally, they lose in the primary election.

What really ought to give Utahns pause, however, is the incivility and nastiness that some (certainly not all) convention delegates displayed Saturday. Even Gov. Cox’s Disagree Better national campaign was mocked by some in the convention hall.

When Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson posted on X that she was “mortified by the vulgarity and viciousness my young nieces were exposed to by another gubernatorial campaign’s supporters,” it raised questions about the intent of delegates who were elected to express the will of party members.

When a strong conservative such as Utah Rep. Kera Birkeland tweets about her daughters enduring mocking and shaming at a help desk, it elevates those questions.

And when former state senator and current Senate candidate Dan Hemmert tells us delegates seemed more concerned with conspiracy theories, federal issues and a candidate’s position on the new state flag than on vetting people for their ability to do the job to which they seek election, it raises alarm bells.

Is this the true nature of the state’s largest political party?

Hemmert told delegates the Republican Party has a record of electing good people in spite of the caucus/convention system, not because of it. That ought to give party leaders pause.

The convention this year seemed designed to make participation difficult. Delegates complained of long lines and technical difficulties. The convention lasted 15 hours, with the original tally of 3,886 credentialed delegates having dwindled to 2,713 by the time candidates were considered for the important Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney.

If the caucus/convention system were scuttled, satisfying alternatives are hard to find. The party may adopt a more open primary, in which candidates would have to collect fewer, or perhaps no petition signatures. But this would only put another flaw in Utah’s election system into high relief — the lack of a runoff election procedure for races involving multiple candidates when none receives a majority of votes cast.

Certainly, there is little appetite to go back to the days of party bosses and whatever passed for a smoke-filled room in Utah. Nevertheless, it is valid to ask, is there a better way?

We are reminded of the words of John Adams, who said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Utah lawmakers should be careful when it comes to changing or removing long-standing party nominating systems. It may not be time to end the caucus/convention system that served past generations so well. However, party leaders now have the responsibility to demonstrate that keeping it will be good for democracy in the future. After all, the goal should not be about control. It should be about participation and having one’s civil voice heard.

It was dreary Saturday morning at 7 a.m. as thousands of Republican delegates filed into the Salt Palace, the spring sunrise delayed in Salt Lake City by rainclouds. It would be 17 hours before delegates finished nominating candidates for June’s primary elections and flooded back into a city that had already seen the sunset.

The Utah Republican Party’s 2024 State Nominating Convention concluded just before midnight on Saturday, with nearly 4,000 delegates sending a clear message to party leaders: They’re not ready for the Donald Trump era of GOP politics to be over — and not even incumbent candidates would be safe this year.

Trump-supported candidates for governor and U.S. Senate, the two most high-profile races in this year’s elections, seized delegates’ support on Saturday. The champions of those hard-line Republicans now wade into a primary election where they’ll face other GOP candidates who gathered enough voters’ signatures to remain in the summer primary. To delegates, those signature gatherers have spited a convention system they hold sacred, and, in many cases, they steadfastly elected “convention-only” candidates.

Two-thirds of delegates picked Phil Lyman — a state legislator Trump pardoned in 2020, after he was convicted of a misdemeanor for leading an illegal protest on federal land — in the 2024 gubernatorial race.

Taking the convention stage to address the crowd before the vote, Gov. Spencer Cox, who is up for reelection after his first four-year term, was met with some cheers, but a vocal majority hissed at the governor.

“Maybe you’re booing me because you hate that I signed the largest tax cut in Utah history. Maybe you hate that I signed constitutional carry into law. Maybe you hate that we ended CRT, DEI and ESG,” Cox, recalling his Republican bone fides, told the raucous crowd. “Or maybe you hate that I don’t hate enough.”

Regardless of delegates’ wishes, both Cox and Lyman will be on the June 25 primary ballot — because Cox gathered enough signatures from voters.

‘100% MAGA’

Earlier in the day, as delegates waited in a long line for their credentials and voting instructions, they learned that Trump had endorsed Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in the race to replace Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate.

“Trent Staggs is 100% MAGA, and is running to fill The Mitt Romney, a Total Loser, Seat as the next Senator from the Great State of Utah!,” Trump posted on social media just hours before delegates would cast a ballot in the crowded Senate competition.

Staggs’ team moved quickly to print out the post to share paper copies with potential supporters who might not have seen the endorsement on their phones nor felt the lightning of the announcement charge through the convention.

“Donald Trump called me at six this morning to tell me I had his full endorsement in this race,” a red-faced Staggs roared to delegates from the stage.

Four rounds of voting later, delegates handed Staggs the win. He’ll join signature gatherers Congressman John Curtis, former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson and businessman Jason Walton on the ballot this summer.

Saturday’s nominating convention happened against the backdrop of the former president’s own reelection campaign. Also, since losing his first reelection bid in 2020, Trump has faced several criminal indictments and civil lawsuits. Six months ahead of November’s presidential election, the former president is off the campaign trail and sitting for the third week of a criminal trial in New York City, where he’s alleged to have falsified business records to cover up a hush-money payment to a porn star to prevent news of the affair from marring his 2016 presidential campaign.

Congressional incumbents take losses

While members of the U.S. House of Representatives are up for reelection every two years, only three of Utah’s four congressional seats were contested on Saturday. No Republican challenged Rep. Burgess Owens, a loyal Trump surrogate, in Utah’s 4th Congressional District. Because Rep. John Curtis is leaving his 3rd District seat in hopes of replacing Romney, several Republicans are running for his open seat.

Of the two other incumbent members of Congress, neither Rep. Blake Moore of Utah’s 1st Congressional District nor Rep. Celeste Maloy, the recent winner of November’s 2nd District special election, were nominated on Saturday. Both, however, will run in those primary races.

Less than two days ahead of the convention, Sen. Mike Lee — a favorite among delegates and an avid Trump supporter — endorsed Colby Jenkins, a former U.S. Army officer, over Maloy in the 2nd District race.

“Too many Republicans in Congress have voted to expand the size, scope, and cost of the federal government,” Lee said in a statement Thursday, ”in many cases deferring to congressional GOP leaders bent on advancing the Democrats’ agenda.”

Taking the stage Saturday, Maloy brought her own surrogate to the microphone: Delegate favorite and congressional colleague Owens.

In a head-to-head vote, Jenkins received nearly 59% of the delegates’ support, leaving Maloy with 43%. But the win wasn’t enough to clear the 60% threshold to win the nomination outright, meaning Maloy, who didn’t gather signatures, will have a chance to defend her seat again in June.

Moore survived his own convention loss by collecting signatures. Instead of Moore, the Utah representative with the most power in the U.S. House, delegates nominated Paul Miller, 55% to 45%.

More than two of the 17 hours delegates spent at the Salt Palace were taken up by six long votes to nominate a candidate to replace Curtis in Utah’s 3rd District. State Sen. Mike Kennedy, another “convention only” candidate, eventually received 61% of the vote. He joins signature-gathering candidates Stewart Peay, JR Bird, Case Lawrence and John Dougall on the ballot.

After voting finished around midnight, the delegates retraced their steps out of the Salt Palace and back into the darkness, leaving behind red, white and blue campaign signs and the disposable plates that once held free pizza slices given by the Cox campaign to feed the delegates on the convention floor.

Salt Lake Tribune reporters Bryan Schott and Emily Anderson Stern contributed to this story.

SALT LAKE CITY — A pro-Palestinian protester who was arrested at the University of Utah campus on Monday night says she has no regrets for what she did.

Hannna Sakalla, 33, graduated from the university law school last year and is now working as a public defender in Salt Lake, is also Palestinian and believes the University of Utah is to blame for the arrests.

According to the University, 19 people were arrested; four were students, and one was a university employee.

The university said two police officers were injured during the pro-Palestinian protest.

“We understood there was risk, but sometimes change has to come in uncomfortable ways,” Sakalla said.

She said police warned the protestors several times to clear the area or they would be arrested. Sakalla joined arms with other protesters and refused to leave.

4 U of U students, 1 employee arrested during pro-Palestinian protest

“The cuffs definitely hurt sitting for hours in the same uncomfortable position. After being body slammed my shoulder was sore. I have a bruise on my leg.  My clothes are ripped,” she said.

Sakalla spent the night at the Salt Lake County Jail. She was arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and failure to disburse.

She has a good reason to support the pro-Palestinian movement that has risen at college campuses across the country. She said her grandma and Uncle were both killed in November by Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

“It’s heart-wrenching for me so participating in these, is really important to me,” she said. “I am upset at the university. The university made this call. This was their property this was their call.” 

Organizers of the protest agree saying there was no reason for this protest to turn out the way it did.

Gaby Merida, who is with the campus organization, Mecha de U of U, helped organize the event. She said there was no reason for police to act the way they did.

“Things were going well, it was peaceful,” she said. “It got pretty violently pretty quickly. All we were doing was camping out, making our demands known. I would say it’s on the University of Utah for not protecting students’ rights of free speech.”