Strategizing before election, Utah Democrats plead ‘come back home’

Supporter hold signs as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on reproductive rights at Ritchie Coliseum on the campus of the University of Maryland on June 24, 2024 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

After an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic presidential ticket, Utah Democratic delegates are strategizing to build a collaborative campaign with the party’s candidates in an attempt to flip some key seats in deeply red Utah.

But first, Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis urged those in the state planning on voting blue this election cycle to make their affiliation official. 

“Please come back home,” she said in a Monday virtual town hall to respond to voters’ questions on election developments.

“It is so important that you come and change your affiliation back to a Democrat,” Lewis said, “because what it does is, nationally when people look at us and they want to send money to the state, they don’t because we only have 250,000 registered Democrats across the state.”

Lewis estimates that the number of Democrats in the state is actually more than double the number of registered party members. It’s a steep contrast to the active registered Republicans that amount to more than 906,000. In 2020, over 560,000 Utahns voted for President Joe Biden, about 37% of the votes, in contrast to the 865,000 votes in the name of former president Donald Trump, who led in the state with 58%.  

“People have registered Republican so that they have their voice heard. It didn’t work. It never worked,” Lewis said. “I mean, we still have Celeste Maloy on the ballot. We still have all of these people that we wanted off the ballot.”

So far Harris is the only Democratic candidate to be considered in the party’s national convention starting Aug. 19. Before then, starting Aug. 1, delegates are scheduled to make a virtual roll call vote for the presidential nominee. 

Nationwide, more than 3,300 delegates have pledged to support Harris and 39 remain undecided, according to a tracker from the Associated Press. The Utah chapter of the party is already planning on campaigning for Harris across the state, promoting her candidacy especially to those Utahns who may be uncomfortable with Project 2025, a conservative transition project by the Heritage Foundation that sets up planned milestones in the case of a Donald Trump victory.

The best messengers for those voters, Thom DeSirant, communications director at the Utah Democratic Party said in the town hall, are the candidates.

“It’s difficult when we, the Democratic Party, are the messenger because your neighbors or colleagues, your family members who are listening to Fox News will always hear the Democratic Party, bad or evil,” DeSirant said. 

However, after President Joe Biden quit the race for a second term, the state Democratic party had its best fundraising month so far this year, DeSirant said. 

Some of the highest profile candidates for the party are Rep. Brian King, who is running for governor, Caroline Gleich, their U.S. Senate nominee, and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, who is making a bid for her reelection.

The party also hopes to unseat some Republicans from their Salt Lake County Council roles. However, this time, DeSirant said, the focus that has historically been in Salt Lake County will extend throughout the state.  

Democrats’ numbers in the state could be better, DeSirant said; however, they are larger than what most perceive.

“We all get this feeling that there are no other Democrats around. But that’s not true,” he said. “In fact, more than 33% of Utahns vote a Democratic ticket every year. I know that’s not where it needs to be. We need that to be 50%, 60%, 70%. But when you think about it, that means 1 out of every 3 people that you talk to on the street, vote for a Democrat.”