I’m fairly new to Utah and hadn’t realized this was an issue, but always felt it’s counter productive to register inauthentically. Glad you’ve written this missive. Our numbers count!
I have been asking this exact question recently! I’ve been told it was better for me to register republican but I recently started wondering if that was actually true, so thank you. Just updated my voter registration because of this
Thank you for this! My state rep is Cheryl Acton, and she is using the inflated number of republican registered voters in Utah as a reason to oppose the new maps! Showing there are democrats in Utah is so important!
You guys are doing a fantastic job and it feels like the troops are starting to rally. I am also guilty of being a faux republican but I addressed that 2 days ago. I’m proud to be a registered democrat and a liberal!
Thank you Elevate! I also have subscribed to your Substack.
For anyone struggling to update and getting an error every time it might be your address!! I’ve been trying to update my registration for months and FINALLY got it to work today. The address only allows 1 line but they do not accept commas to separate the two lines of your address! If they’re going to be difficult about format the least they could do is tell you the correct format rather than just giving you an error and making you start completely over …
I was really hoping for more meat on the Cox vs Lyman conversation. That is a real win - despite some of the obvious problems with Cox. If you're going to use that language, "that's your win?" you need to follow up with what the alternative win would have looked like using your proposal outlined here. Otherwise it isn't a good look. Lyman would have been far far far worse than Cox - and if you disagree I'd love to hear it.
I'm all for doing things right - but nothing outlined here made me think that I sabotaged Utah - and that language is inappropriate.
Something that's banging around in my head: If Lyman had won the 2024 R primary, would he have been deemed as too radical by Utahns in the general election, giving King a fighting chance?
This entire concept of being a “closet” Democrat and registering as a Republican with the perverse hope of influencing the Republicans to elect a “moderate” is an anathema to me. I see it as totally asinine and as a phenomenon that I would venture only exists in deep red Utah. The article points out the obvious. Anyone with the least amount of common sense can see that such a strategy is self defeating and can only further strengthen the Republican Party. In this Trump era, there are no moderate Republicans anyway. I confess that I am a leftist. The candidates that run as Democrats in Utah are usually hardly more than moderate Republicans anyway. That said, the Democratic Party can only prevail with solidarity and strength in numbers. The more support, the more others will feel safe joining. I noticed a troubling development just yesterday. A Facebook page entitled “Utah Rural Democrats” or close thereto took the name “Democrats out of the title to call themselves only Utah Rural Opinions. That was to me the very kind of closet Democrat tactic you are referring to here. Whoever made that decision for the rural Democrats should be removed from their position immediately. Let me have a voice in Democrat Party leadership and I will give you a clarion call to wake up to the reality of fascism in America brought on by the Republican Party that festers and thrives in Utah.
Great points. Maybe the point about Lyman missed some of the audience so that they could not get past it.
I think the larger points about (implicitly) shame are particularly on the mark. The notion that we can be stealth voters infiltrating the GOP without harm is gonna rub libertarian Dems a hurt.
I take from your piece that your goal is to unify Dems and build a diverse coalition accepting of a shared value system. If we are ashamed of being Utah Dems --and, I raise my guilty hand here--then we will stay divided and unrepresented. This is a doom spiral.
Something, something, something: self-sabotage, fear and shame>>grievance mentality. Grievance mentality and ultimate victim hood =/= Democratic mindset.
Playing the 'what-if' exercise here: what if the very diverse factions, as it were, of the party took the risk of identifying and showing up with listening in mind, then engaged openly, maybe our internal elections would have different outcomes as well. I seem to recall a very close election for party chair that surprised and pleased me even though my candidate narrowly lost that one.
I loved your point about delegates and actual interest levels, as well. I've always thought of the delegate selection outcome as 'delegates by default' or "I was the only person in my precinct who showed up, so I'm a delegate (but I don't know what that means, and I will be out of town from May to September, so that's all good)."
Yeah, it's a long haul to make change, but nothing good will come of the status quo.
Thanks, also, to you all and the vote webmasters who made the online party affiliation change work so smoothly.
So I should go back to trusting people who want to mutilate children, are anti-natal, turn a blind eye to terrorist violence, and are some of the most aesthetically unpleasing people in the state?
I went to a protest a few years ago at the Capital to pick up chicks. It’s worked just fine in the past. But these recent protest girls are nasty, masculine-coded, shrieking and have poor hygiene. I am not going to associate myself with people who have zero self-respect. It’s really that simple. Clean up your act, ladies. My current gf is basically a Nazi lawyer, but at least she cleans herself and presents herself amazingly. She has self-respect even though I disagree with her politically. I’ll stick with voting for people like Governor Cox thanks. In Utah, we get D-grade liberals with an inferiority complex. Yeah, sign me up for those pack of losers! 🤩
I’m fairly new to Utah and hadn’t realized this was an issue, but always felt it’s counter productive to register inauthentically. Glad you’ve written this missive. Our numbers count!
I have been asking this exact question recently! I’ve been told it was better for me to register republican but I recently started wondering if that was actually true, so thank you. Just updated my voter registration because of this
Thank you for this! My state rep is Cheryl Acton, and she is using the inflated number of republican registered voters in Utah as a reason to oppose the new maps! Showing there are democrats in Utah is so important!
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2022/01/04/letter-quit-giving-our-so/
Immediately updates my voter registration!! Thanks for this info
You guys are doing a fantastic job and it feels like the troops are starting to rally. I am also guilty of being a faux republican but I addressed that 2 days ago. I’m proud to be a registered democrat and a liberal!
Thank you Elevate! I also have subscribed to your Substack.
Love this! You guys are my stabilizing foundation right now.
For anyone struggling to update and getting an error every time it might be your address!! I’ve been trying to update my registration for months and FINALLY got it to work today. The address only allows 1 line but they do not accept commas to separate the two lines of your address! If they’re going to be difficult about format the least they could do is tell you the correct format rather than just giving you an error and making you start completely over …
I was really hoping for more meat on the Cox vs Lyman conversation. That is a real win - despite some of the obvious problems with Cox. If you're going to use that language, "that's your win?" you need to follow up with what the alternative win would have looked like using your proposal outlined here. Otherwise it isn't a good look. Lyman would have been far far far worse than Cox - and if you disagree I'd love to hear it.
I'm all for doing things right - but nothing outlined here made me think that I sabotaged Utah - and that language is inappropriate.
Something that's banging around in my head: If Lyman had won the 2024 R primary, would he have been deemed as too radical by Utahns in the general election, giving King a fighting chance?
Excellent points - thanks for writing this article!
This entire concept of being a “closet” Democrat and registering as a Republican with the perverse hope of influencing the Republicans to elect a “moderate” is an anathema to me. I see it as totally asinine and as a phenomenon that I would venture only exists in deep red Utah. The article points out the obvious. Anyone with the least amount of common sense can see that such a strategy is self defeating and can only further strengthen the Republican Party. In this Trump era, there are no moderate Republicans anyway. I confess that I am a leftist. The candidates that run as Democrats in Utah are usually hardly more than moderate Republicans anyway. That said, the Democratic Party can only prevail with solidarity and strength in numbers. The more support, the more others will feel safe joining. I noticed a troubling development just yesterday. A Facebook page entitled “Utah Rural Democrats” or close thereto took the name “Democrats out of the title to call themselves only Utah Rural Opinions. That was to me the very kind of closet Democrat tactic you are referring to here. Whoever made that decision for the rural Democrats should be removed from their position immediately. Let me have a voice in Democrat Party leadership and I will give you a clarion call to wake up to the reality of fascism in America brought on by the Republican Party that festers and thrives in Utah.
Great points. Maybe the point about Lyman missed some of the audience so that they could not get past it.
I think the larger points about (implicitly) shame are particularly on the mark. The notion that we can be stealth voters infiltrating the GOP without harm is gonna rub libertarian Dems a hurt.
I take from your piece that your goal is to unify Dems and build a diverse coalition accepting of a shared value system. If we are ashamed of being Utah Dems --and, I raise my guilty hand here--then we will stay divided and unrepresented. This is a doom spiral.
Something, something, something: self-sabotage, fear and shame>>grievance mentality. Grievance mentality and ultimate victim hood =/= Democratic mindset.
Playing the 'what-if' exercise here: what if the very diverse factions, as it were, of the party took the risk of identifying and showing up with listening in mind, then engaged openly, maybe our internal elections would have different outcomes as well. I seem to recall a very close election for party chair that surprised and pleased me even though my candidate narrowly lost that one.
I loved your point about delegates and actual interest levels, as well. I've always thought of the delegate selection outcome as 'delegates by default' or "I was the only person in my precinct who showed up, so I'm a delegate (but I don't know what that means, and I will be out of town from May to September, so that's all good)."
Yeah, it's a long haul to make change, but nothing good will come of the status quo.
Thanks, also, to you all and the vote webmasters who made the online party affiliation change work so smoothly.
How is party affiliation used?
I don't want to be a democrat. Isn't there another option?
Watching 60 Minutes and sadly, they're spending more time glorifying this Cuck than they ever did on the Life of
our own Charlie Kirk! I'm frankly, disgusted!
So I should go back to trusting people who want to mutilate children, are anti-natal, turn a blind eye to terrorist violence, and are some of the most aesthetically unpleasing people in the state?
I went to a protest a few years ago at the Capital to pick up chicks. It’s worked just fine in the past. But these recent protest girls are nasty, masculine-coded, shrieking and have poor hygiene. I am not going to associate myself with people who have zero self-respect. It’s really that simple. Clean up your act, ladies. My current gf is basically a Nazi lawyer, but at least she cleans herself and presents herself amazingly. She has self-respect even though I disagree with her politically. I’ll stick with voting for people like Governor Cox thanks. In Utah, we get D-grade liberals with an inferiority complex. Yeah, sign me up for those pack of losers! 🤩