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The Week Ahead
Filing deadline is 5 p.m. today for municipal office. Watch the papers tomorrow for the final lists of candidates seeking municipal office. . . . Tuesday, the Highway Jurisdictional Transfer Task Force meets at 9 a.m. UDOT and local government leaders will recommend which roads should be on the transfer list. . . . Also Tuesday, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt brings his “Medicare Rx” road show to SLC to discuss Medicare drug benefits with senior citizens. . . . Saturday, Gov. Jon Huntsman’s Special Initiatives Office holds a fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. at the USANA Amphitheater. James Taylor will perform after dinner. Call 521-8500, or e-mail: tara@farbmanhopkins.com.
SL County is Still Republican, But Not by Much
Utah Policy Daily has noted a number of times that the Utah Democratic Party is making inroads in Salt Lake County. We decided to take a macro look at county politics by totaling all the 2004 votes for Republican and Democrats in significant races within the county. We included president, governor, U.S Senate, Congress, state auditor, attorney general, state treasurer, State Senate, State House, Salt Lake County mayor, and the at-large county council seat. We counted only votes cast within the county.
The results: 1.85 million votes were cast in 2004 for Republicans in SL County, compared to 1.65 million votes cast for Democrats, a difference of around 200,000 votes. Republicans enjoyed a 52.9% to 47.1% edge. Republicans won big in the presidential and U.S. Senate races (by 79,779 and 62,697 votes respectively), while the Democrats’ big winner was Jim Matheson (by 66,515 votes). The numbers for Democrats were also diminished by the state attorney general, auditor and treasurer races, where little-known Democrats went up against entrenched incumbents.
Looking at legislative races alone, the Republicans came out ahead 235,191 votes to 202,041, a difference of 33,150 votes. Democrats were hurt by not fielding candidates in four races, while Republicans lacked candidates in two. Add the county mayoral and at-large council votes to the legislative tallies, and Democrats come out ahead by more than 5,000 votes.
Conclusion: Salt Lake County still leans Republican. But countywide, a solid Democratic candidate has a close-to-even chance of beating a solid Republican candidate, and a solid Democratic candidate will beat a less-than-stellar Republican candidate. Democrats seeking political inspiration need look no further than the gubernatorial race, where Scott Matheson beat Jon Huntsman by 20,000 votes in Salt Lake County. Another sign of rising Democratic strength is in straight-ticket voting. Some 61,010 Republicans voted straight party-ticket in SL County, compared to 58,040 Democrats.
Forum to Discuss Downtown
The future of downtown SLC will be discussed at a forum Tuesday, Aug. 16, 8-9:30 a.m., 299 S. Main, 23rd floor, hosted by the Downtown Alliance. A study done by the U of U’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research will be featured. The study forecasts significant growth for downtown.
Presenters include James A. Wood, Director of the BEBR; Chris Corroon, Downtown Housing Specialist, and other downtown market representatives. Copies of the 2005 Downtown Benchmark Update study will be available. To RSVP, contact Lizzie Barlow, at 328-5043 or email lizzie@downtownslc.org.
Colorado Cap Sparks Fight
Fascinating story out of Colorado, our neighbor to the east, in the New York Times on the battle occurring over state spending caps. Colorado has perhaps the strictest constitutional cap on state and local spending in the country, and Gov. Bill Owens wants to modify it, arguing that it is damaging higher education and has created a fiscal crisis.
Owens, not long ago, was a darling of conservatives; he was even touted as a presidential prospect. Now he is being attacked by conservatives, locally and nationally, for wanting to liberalize the spending cap.
Blog Watch
The Brad Blog comments on Diebold voting machines and lobbyist conflicts in Salt Lake County.
Environment Watch
DWR Receives $705,000 Grant
Utah has been awarded $705,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Bush Administration's Landowner Incentive Program. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will use the funds to work with private landowners to conserve sagebrush steppe uplands that support the greater sage-grouse, Gunnison sage-grouse, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, pygmy rabbit, and several species of prairie dog, along with riparian corridors that support the Columbia spotted frog, least chub, several species of cutthroat trout, yellow-billed cuckoo, and migratory bird species.
DOI Grant to Aid Autumn Buttercup
The Autumn Buttercup will be reintroduced to the Sevier River Valley, thanks to a grant from the DOI’s Private Stewardship Grants Program, says a Department of Interior press release. Obtaining the $18,661 grant was a collaborative effort by the Nature Conservancy, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, the Arboretum at Flagstaff, and Utah Valley State College. The purpose is to help prevent extinction of the endangered autumn buttercup by re-introducing plants grown in captivity.
Campaign Tip
Know Your District Demography
(Adapted from “How to Win a Local Election” by Judge Lawrence Grey)
“Who are the people in my district?” is a pretty basic question. Demography is about people. Demographics are data about people and how they live, which is gathered by census takers and mass marketers—such as family size, average income, ethnic background, and so on. If you are running for office, you are interested in the local community and probably know a lot about it. But you don’t get elected by assuming that you know a lot: you get elected by finding out what you don’t know and making it a point to know more than your opponent.
For example, it is well known that older people, church members, and homeowners tend to vote in greater numbers than young people, non-churchgoers, or renters. So they should be targets for contact, mailings, get-out-the-vote, etc. When you study the census data and learn about the general characteristics of the people in your district, you arm yourself with a kind of satellite photograph. The more you know about the people in your district the better campaign decisions you will make. If you are going to represent the people of your district and their interests, you have a duty to learn as much as you can about them. There are enough wonks that think they know it all already holding public office. Don’t be one of them. Census data will not only help you win, it will make you a better public servant.
Now You Know
Utah Race/Ethnic Origin
1,904,265 85.3% White
201,559 9.0% Hispanic
36,483 1.6% Asian
31,308 1.4% Two+ races
26,663 1.2% Native Am.
16,137 0.7% Black
14,806 0.7% Hawaiian
1,948 0.1% Other
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