Monday, April 28, 2008

Deseret News, Daily Herald, and Tribune articles about the Utah County GOP Convention, including Rolly's denunciation

I am just posting links to the articles in the Deseret News and Herald. I will copy the whole text of the Trib articles since they restrict access after a week or two. Both the D-News and the Tribune cover the Tilton loss well and they both focus on the legislative races. The Herald article is shorter, but features more about some of the speeches from the candidates for the statewide offices and congressional seats.

This Deseret News explanation includes at the bottom the clearest exact vote breakdowns:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695274218,00.html

The Herald article:

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/264016/17/

The Trib article:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9071220

Legislators Tilton, Fife booted at conventions
Nuclear power fan voted out by Utah County Republicans
By Cathy McKitrick
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/27/2008 02:43:37 AM MDT

OREM - At Saturday's Utah County Republican Convention, delegates
denied one incumbent lawmaker another term.
Former Mapleton City Councilman Francis Gibson gained 60.8 percent
of the vote to edge out two-term Rep. Aaron Tilton, who recently had
gone on the defensive against conflict-of-interest allegations
involving his proposal to build nuclear power plants in Utah.
"I'm very excited . . . and also awestruck with the amount of
support I had," said Gibson. "This election today was not a me
election, it was a we election. The people of our district wanted a
change."
However, in eight other races, delegates favored the status quo by
giving incumbents at least 60 percent of the vote, thus avoiding a
June primary.
Tilton, who could not be reached for comment, was the high-profile
House sponsor of a 2007 law aimed at restricting participation in gay
student clubs. More recently, he came under fire for a perceived
conflict of interest. He serves on the Legislature's public utilities
committee and also heads up Transition Power Development LLC, a
company seeking to build nuclear power plants in Utah.
He also angered Mapleton residents who objected to bills he
sponsored to benefit Mapleton radiologist Wendell Gibby, who plans to
build homes on 120 acres of bench land zoned as environmentally
critical.
"There's some serious antagonism in Mapleton over land-use
issues," said U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Mapleton, who serves as an
automatic delegate because of his elected office.
Cannon suspects that other factors, including the recent flap over
Tilton's nuclear power plant plans, likely did some damage.
"The state Legislature could be more open about sources of income
and avoid that problem," Cannon said.
Tilton defended himself on his Web site and in an opinion piece
published in the Provo Daily Herald, saying the conflict-of-interest
charges were untrue and ''whether maliciously or out of ignorance''
were aimed at turning voters against him.
Tilton says there was no conflict because his business plan, if
approved, would be funded entirely by private investors and would not
involve the regulated utilities overseen by his committee.
Gibson conducted a rigorous campaign, said Marian Monnahan, who is
chairwoman of the county Republicans. Only two votes pushed him beyond
the 60 percent mark.
Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork, who seeks a fourth term,
raked in 82 percent of the vote in spite of a lawsuit from the
Securities and Exchange Commission over a $3 million hedge-fund
invest- ment.
Party leaders muzzled Morley's opponent, Chance Williams, every
time he attempted to bring up the charge and Saturday's convention was
no different, despite Williams citing a section of Utah Code that
encourages candidates to voice frank and fearless criticism.
Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble overcame a spirited
challenge from Jacqueline deGaston and James O'Neal, and netted 67
percent of the vote.
Provo delegate Roger Nielsen cast his vote for Bramble. "He's got
his head on straight and I feel like a change right now wouldn't be
good for the state," Nielsen said.
Russell Carr, also a Provo delegate, gave deGaston his vote.
"I wanted to see a primary runoff to let the voters decide," Carr said.
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
Utah County GOP results
* Senate District 16:
Bramble (i) 119 votes - 67 percent
deGaston 51
O'Neal 5
* House District 56:
Sumsion (i) 123 - 96 percent
Sepulveda 4
* House District 57:
Craig Frank (i) 68 - 68 percent
Kim Robinson 32
* House District 60:
Brad Daw (i) 52 - 60.4 percent
Linda Housekeeper 34
* House District 61:
Keith Grover (i) 57 - 60 percent
Lisa Shepherd 37
* House District 62:
Chris Herrod (i) 60 - 66 percent
David Starling 30
* House District 58:
Paul Newton 37
Steve Sandstrom (i) 64 - 63 percent
*House District 65:
Francis Gibson 70 - 60.8 percent
Aaron Tilton (i) 45
* House District 66:
Michael Morley (i) 71 - 82 percent
Chance Williams 15


Community activist Luz Robles defeated state Sen. Fred Fife in his
bid for re-election in west Salt Lake City.
Robles captured 74 percent of the delegate vote at Saturday's Salt
Lake County Democratic Convention to secure the party's nomination.
The District 1 area includes the neighborhoods of Rose Park, Glendale
and Poplar Grove and is a Democratic stronghold.
"I'm looking forward to bringing more energy to the district,"
Robles told a room of screaming delegates after her win was announced.
Fife thanked people from his district for letting him serve them,
and told Robles the fight against the Republican nominee, Salt Lake
City Councilman Carlton Christensen, could be tough.
"You'll have to work hard to beat your Republican opponent," he
said. "But I'm here to help you."
Fife has served just one term in the Senate. Before that he served
several years in the Utah House.
Robles is former director of the state's Ethnic Affairs Office.
She has been knocking on doors in a grass-roots campaign for months.
She already has a meeting planned for Monday to begin to register
voters in her district.
"It's been great to see the response," she said. "Truly, people
are just hungry for change."
The Senate race was the only one in Salt Lake County with a
Democratic incumbent challenged within the party.
However, six other races were contested.
In Magna's District 22, Sue Duckworth won the nomination with more
than 60 percent of the vote, so she will run to replace her husband,
incumbent Rep. Carl Duckworth, who is battling a rare form of bone
marrow cancer.
"There's a lot of love in this room," Sue Duckworth said as
delegates and family members congratulated her. She faces
Constitutional Party candidate Thomas Mangum, but no Republican
challenger because Deena Ely dropped out of the race earlier this
week.
Delegates also elected a new county party chairman. As expected,
Weston Clark was picked to replace Christian Burridge, who resigned a
few days ago.
smcfarland@sltrib.com
Contested seat winners:
* Senate District 1: Luz Robles
* Senate District 6: Cora Jckowski
* House District 24: Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck
* House District 41: Fred Ash
* House District 46: Marie Poulson
* House District 47: Jennifer Burley Wolfe


Rolly:

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_9065727

Rolly: Can you believe that conniving clique of Republicans from Utah County?
Paul Rolly
Article Last Updated: 04/26/2008 10:47:38 AM MDT

Because some sections of the Sunday Salt Lake Tribune are printed
early, this column is being written prior to Saturday's Utah County
Republican Convention. But no matter, because whatever happens there,
Utah County, whose right-wing representatives enjoy the most influence
in the Utah Legislature, is about to blow its political lid.
This is a story about the power brokers in Utah County, including
both legislators and their favorite lobbyists, desperately trying to
hold the grip they've clamped on the Legislature, while a growing
number of restless Republicans are rebelling against this cozy clique
of the ethically challenged.
It's also about how the county's GOP leaders and their legislative
co-conspirators manipulated the makeup of the convention's list of
delegates. It's about alleged rule-breaking by county party officials
to vault the incumbents over their upstart Republican challengers. And
it's about threats and intimidation by these lawmakers and lobbyists
who are scrambling, hand-in-hand, to stay atop the heap on Capitol
Hill.
When Jacqueline deGaston filed to run against Senate Majority
Leader Curtis Bramble of Provo, she was told directly and indirectly
to butt out of the race. One precinct officer, who asked to remain
anonymous for fear of retaliation, says he was urged to block the
candidacy of a woman running to be a delegate in his precinct because
of suspicions that she supported deGaston. He refused, and the woman
was elected.
At first, deGaston was denied a list of the names of all the
county delegates because Senate President John Valentine, Bramble's
buddy from Orem, supposedly misconstrued party rules. When the mistake
was pointed out, deGaston was given the list.
But questions linger about the way "automatic" delegates are
chosen. DeGaston and others claim that county GOP chair Marian
Monnahan, state Republican Chairman Stan Lockhart and his wife, Rep.
Becky Lockhart; Bramble and his wife, Susan; and Valentine, are
violating the state party's constitution by the way they appoint
delegates not elected in their precincts.
A former Republican legislator, a friend of deGaston, received a
letter with the name of Jeff Rogers on the envelope threatening to
expose the fact that deGaston, an attorney, was suspended by the State
Bar for three months in 2000 for allegedly trying to get a court clerk
to bend the rules on dating a document submitted to the court. She
denies any wrongdoing but says her enemies were so persistent she
finally agreed to the minimal suspension so she could get on with her
life.
The letter to the former lawmaker said that would be the issue in the race.
Jeff Rogers is the son of lobbyist Paul Rogers, who last year took
vacation in Italy with the Brambles and the Lockharts, and who
organized a recent fund-raiser for the so-called "Fabulous Five," a
group of one-term Republican legislators - four of whom are from Utah
County and have Republican challengers. The invitation to the "Fab
Five" fund-raiser was sent by the Utah Republican Party, headed by -
who else? - Stan Lockhart.
Linda Housekeeper, who is challenging Rep. Brad Daw in Orem, was
told by the legislative district chair that at least two replacement
delegates appointed by the precinct chairs wouldn't get credentials
because their names were submitted too late. Those delegates supported
Housekeeper, who was informed Wednesday that still another "automatic"
delegate appointed by party leaders would be added to the list in her
race.
That was quite enough for Nancy Lord, the Republican national
committeewoman from Utah, who said many of the shenanigans being
pulled by Utah County party leaders violate the state GOP
constitution. But, see, the convention rules chairman is Utah County
Commissioner Steve White, who also buzzed off to Italy with the
Brambles, the Lockharts and the Rogerses.
One for all, all for one, at home and abroad, it's quite the
clique. And the rest of you can just get lost.

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