Happy fall–and election season. It’s now time to vote—many our ballots arrived today, so check your mailboxes!
This fall, the Network of Utah Moderates is encouraging Utah voters to look beyond incumbents and beyond their traditional party favorites. Frankly, we are worried about the corrosive effects of concentrated power both nationally and here at home. Power needs checks and balances, and good representation requires real competition.
Republicans currently control the whole federal government. Republicans hold the presidency, a majority in the U.S. Senate, and a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.1 In Utah, Republicans hold an even larger share of legislative seats. Members of the Republican Party currently hold 61 of 75 seats in the Utah House and 22 of 29 seats in the Senate. Republicans also hold the governor, attorney general, and every other statewide office. For many Utahns, every representative at every level of government—from city council and local school board up to county officials, state legislators, federal representatives, and the president are all registered Republicans.
Voters are allowed to choose who they prefer, and we recognize how a unified government makes it easier to accomplish certain policy objectives. Yet as Americans who love the Constitution, we must also value checks and balances. As we recently wrote, supermajorities often forget their responsibility to exercise restraint.
The danger of one-party control
When one party controls nearly every lever of government, the need for independent voices becomes more important. The greater the concentration of power, the more important meaningful oversight becomes. For us, the issue isn’t Republicans or Democrats. It’s accountability and unchecked power.
There are Republicans we respect, Democrats we respect, and independents and candidates from other parties who we respect. All bring valuable perspectives to public office. Our biggest concern is what happens when elected officials become more accountable to party leadership than to the people they represent.
We see this happening not just nationally, but here in Utah as well.
The responsibilities of Utah’s federal delegation
Reasonable people can disagree about individual policies and whether particular actions represent appropriate uses of executive authority. But two principles should not be controversial: Congress is supposed to exercise oversight of the executive branch and Congresspeople are supposed to represent their constituents. This responsibility doesn’t disappear when the president belongs to the same party
Members of Congress should support their president when appropriate—and also willing to challenge him when constitutional limits, institutional norms, or the interests of their constituents require it. We don’t want a legislative branch whose members defend the president simply because he belongs to their party.
We have watched and hoped for our congressional delegation to meet this crucial period with a courageous defense of constitutional principles and the rule of law. In our opinion, Utah’s federal representatives have failed to do so at nearly every crucial juncture—from voting to approve unqualified appointees to high cabinet positions, to voting to continue the Iran War unchecked, to recently blocking a bipartisan bill to save the Kennedy Center.
What about Utah?
The same principles apply at home. Utah has an unusually strong legislative majority. When the same party controls every branch of government, fewer institutional checks lie between an idea and its implementation.
With a large enough majority, majority-party members can—and do—pass legislation without needing to compromise, listen to constituent voices, or fix known issues with their bills. Decisions are made in closed door caucus meetings, not during open floor debates. We watch controversial legislation sail through the legislative session, often without citizens having a chance to give meaningful input. With one party holding more than 80% of the seats in both chambers, minority legislators have limited (if any) ability to stop legislation.
This makes internal accountability within the majority especially important. A healthy system needs people who are willing to ask difficult questions, negotiate, amend legislation, and occasionally tell their own leadership, “No, this isn’t right.”
Quite frankly, we don’t see that happening in Utah right now. We’ve watched state leaders take decision-making power from cities, counties, schools, the judiciary, and regular citizens alike. Amendment B is yet another example. Utahns are waking up, seeing the fruits of backroom deals without transparency, including PIDs (Public Infrastructure Districts), MIDA developments, data centers, and more.
Our leaders do this in part because their power goes relatively unchecked. Like the rest of us, legislators respond to incentives. Change requires enough political competition that elected officials know they must continue earning voters’ support.
Looking beyond incumbents
Incumbents start with strong advantages, including name recognition, party support (usually) and fundraising. But incumbency shouldn’t be an automatic reason to vote for someone. Party affiliation shouldn’t be either. An “R” or a “D” mostly tells you how the candidate made it onto the ballot. Labels do not tell you how they govern.
And Utah voters should know that in our closed convention-primary system, making it to the general election often means appealing to the most extreme members of their party.
Instead of voting by party, we’re interested in questions like:
Does this person represent the needs of their constituents, even when that means disagreeing with party leadership?
Do they support meaningful checks and balances? Will they protect the ability of citizens to hold government accountable?
Will they exercise independent judgment and acknowledge when their own party has gotten something wrong?
Will they defend appropriate local decision-making?
Do they listen to people who disagree with them?
Do they take the long view—statesmanship—rather than simply following the political winds of partisanship?
Some of our current legislators have an excellent track record. Many times, challengers are better positioned to fulfill those principles. We believe in letting candidates’ records and positions speak for themselves.
Why this matters—especially in Utah
Utah is not a politically homogeneous state. Utahns identify as conservative, moderate, liberal, progressive, independent, and libertarians. Many voters (around 30%!) don’t identify with a political party at all. Shouldn’t that be reflected in our political institutions?
Voters should have meaningful choices, and elected officials should have meaningful incentives to listen to people beyond their own political base. Competition is healthy for good governance. A healthy democratic republic like the United States needs people in office who know they can be challenged.
We encourage you to look beyond incumbents and party labels, because no elected official or party should have a permanent claim on our vote. Our ask:
Consider each candidate, regardless of party.
Examine their background, records, policy positions, endorsements, and willingness to operate independently on behalf of their voters.
Prioritize candidates who will represent their constituents, respect democratic institutions, exercise independent judgment, and provide meaningful checks on concentrated power.
Because of what we know about current Utah politics and our desire to see meaningful checks and balances, we tend to prefer challengers from outside the typical Republican establishment. And we write this as a majority-Republican coalition who have most often supported Republicans in the past.
Working together, we can make change
The general election is now upon us. We’re working on publishing in-depth profiles on each of the four federal congressional districts, along with as many other candidate guides we can manage.
With limited time and bandwidth from our group of volunteers, we also plan to publish a voter guide with shorter “quick takes” on races we know about that deserve attention to jumpstart your research. Hoping that’s out before this weekend!2
Utah has a strong tradition of independent thinking. Let’s bring that tradition back into our politics. We’re not starting with a party and working backward; we’re starting with the candidate and asking whether they are the kind of public servant Utah needs.
Learn who is running. Look at their record. Ask real questions. Then decide who you believe will best represent you, open your ballot, and fill in that oval. Most importantly, make sure to turn in your ballot before November 3.
As of this October, Republicans hold 218 House seats to Democrats’ 214, with one independent and two vacancies. In the US Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats to 47 for Democrats (including two independents who caucus with Democrats).
We could use help to find good information on candidates all over the state—please reach out at networkforutahmoderates@gmail.com if you have time or insights to share.