Utah Republicans selected new party leadership at their state convention last Saturday at the Maverik Center in West Valley City. Senator Mitt Romney narrowly escaped a censure resolution but nearly got booed off the stage during his speech. Governor Spencer Cox faired better under the bombardment of boos, but his preferred candidates to lead the state GOP party were rejected by delegates unequivocally.
The following are highlights of speeches and significant developments that occurred at the Utah Republican 2021 Organizing Convention.
New GOP State Party Leadership Team elected in Upset Victories
Roughly 2,000 state GOP delegates elected 32-year-old Carson Jorgensen from Sanpete County to lead the state party for the next two years. Although, Governor Spencer Cox also hails from Sanpete County, Jorgensen’s underdog victory was a blow to the state’s newly elected governor.
Jorgensen is a sheep rancher by profession. He told reporters his victory was a bit unexpected. “We wouldn’t be in the race if we didn’t think there was [a chance],” he said. “But like I said, at the end of the day, it is a surprise.”
After two rounds of voting, Jorgensen won with 55 percent of the vote.
Round one:
Brad Baker – 8 (0.39%)
Carson Jorgensen – 681 (32.8%)
Stewart Peay – 749 (36.08%)
Tina Cannon – 616 (29.67%)
Total votes: 2,076
Round Two:
Carson Jorgensen – 906 (54.45%)
Stewart Peay – 758 (45.55%)
Total Votes: 1,664
Cox and a slate of establishment Republicans endorsed Utah County GOP chair Stewart Peay for state party chair and the governor’s campaign manager Austin Cox (no relation) for state GOP vice-chair. The two ran as a ticket they called “Team Utah GOP,” but each failed to garner enough delegate support.
Jordan Hess (33) of Washington County defeated Austin Cox in a landslide for state GOP vice-chair despite strong establishment Republican backing for the Team Utah GOP ticket. Hess is a former staff of Senator Mike Lee and currently oversees public policy for the St. George Chamber of Commerce.
Vice-Chair race results:
Austin Cox – 774 (37.28%)
Jordan Hess – 1,277 (61.51%)
Total votes: 2,076
Kendra Seeley who ran for a second term as state GOP secretary also received establishment Republican endorsement but lost resoundingly to Oliva Dawn Horlacher (29) from Davis County. Mike Bird (33) won reelection for state GOP Treasurer unopposed.
Secretary race results:
Kendra Seeley – 614 (29.63%)
Olivia Dawn Horlacher – 1,433 (69.16%)
Total votes: 2,072
Many delegates viewed the endorsements by GOP heavyweights as distasteful or heavy-handed. Robert, a delegate from Cache County who declined to give his last name, told Utah Political Underground that he was “sick and tired of moderate [Republican] yellowbellies running the party.” When asked what advice he would give to the newly elected GOP leadership team, he raised his voice and said, “be bold, and proudly show all these people moving-in that our Republican principles is the reason why Utah is so great.”
The new Republican Party Leadership team acknowledge their youth but see it as an advantage when reaching out to younger voters. Jorgensen said he will focus on making sure everyone has a voice in the party. He wants to ensure that Utah continues voting Republican, observing that the states surrounding Utah are turning blue. In his convention speech, he said that his plan is to “leave no county behind.”
Horlacher said, “delegates want leadership who will be strong and listen to them rather than those with more money or sway because of their position.”
Speech Highlights from State GOP Office Holders and Federal Delegation
In addition to the party leadership elections, nearly all of Utah’s federal delegation spoke to the delegates, and many state GOP office holders. Special guest Robert O’Brian, the National Security Advisor under former President Donald Trump also addressed the delegates.
Governor Spencer Cox
Visibly nervous, Governor Cox delivered a boiler-plate Republican speech championing party ideas and platitudes echoed by many throughout the convention.
“Government was never designed to solve all of our problems,” he said. “If we want smaller government, we need bigger people,” referring to his exhortation that Utah spend more time helping their neighbors “instead of protesting at the homes of local health care leaders.”
Cox received scattered boos from the crowd when addressing some delegates ostensibly critical views on his response to the pandemic. “I know some of you hate me for some of the decisions that have been made,” he said. “But you’re not paying attention.” Cox pointed out that if they compare the states with the lowest unemployment during the pandemic, with the number of days kids were in school, and lowest fatality rates, “Utah is the only state that comes out on top.”
The governor touted some of his administration’s accomplishments including banning government vaccine passports in the state and having “zero restrictions on religious gatherings” during the pandemic.
He also promised that “at the end of this school year, there will be no more masks, and no more masks next fall.”
Senator Mike Lee
The delegates treated Senator Mike Lee to a rock star welcome and enthusiastic support throughout his remarks. He opened his speech by thanking the delegates for “showing up and taking action” rather than “ranting and raving at the T.V. screen.” He said their participation is “proof positive” of their faith in the future.
The majority of his remarks focused on the Founding Fathers and how they restricted their own power in the federal government. “This is the key to our founding,” he said. “Because faith in government – in imperfect, human rule and in the authorized, blunt use of force – means tyranny. And faith in the people means freedom.”
Lee rhetorically attacked Democrats’ efforts to pass H.R. 1, make D.C. and Puerto Rico states, and pack the U.S. Supreme Court. He read a 1980s quote form President Joe Biden calling FDR’s efforts to pack the court a “boneheaded idea,” noting the presidents change in thought today. “Power hungry opportunists sure have a way of shifting with the winds,” Lee said.
Most notably, Senator Lee questioned the recent guidelines from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that now allow for vaccinated individuals to not wear a mask when outside with other members of their family. “Oh, thanks CDC,” Lee said, while saluting mockingly. “Doesn’t it seem like the CDC is more concerned with control rather than the disease.”
Senator Mitt Romney
Boos rained down from the audience immediately as Senator Mitt Romney entered the stage. Approximately a 1/4 of delegates appeared to be actively booing while a significant number of others were attempting to show support by cheering and clapping.
However, the booing, even from a minority of the delegates, drowned out any attempts by Romney to start and sustain his speech. Delegates appeared to express vocal disapproval of Romney due to his outspoken criticism of former President Donald Trump.
The boos persisted loudly till outgoing state GOP chairman, Derek Brown, reprimanded the delegates and asked them to “show respect.” Romney proceeded to deliver his prepared remarks, saying, “Now you know me as a person who says what he thinks, and I don’t hide the fact that I wasn’t a fan of our last president’s character issues.”
Romney was booed sporadically throughout his speech. During one moment he strayed from his remarks to address the continued displeasure of some delegates, and combatively asked the crowd, “Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“You can boo all you like,” he continued “but I’ve been a Republican all my life.” He called himself an “old-fashioned republican” which he defined as one who cares about the country’s fiscal health and one who “follows his conscience.”
Utah Political Underground attempted to interview Romney after his speech, but he immediately left the convention center.
Hours later, delegates debated a resolution to censure Romney for twice voting for conviction during the two impeachment trials of former President Trump. But the resolution failed narrowly 798 – 711.
Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson
Lt. Governor Henderson’s remarks struck a similar tone as Governor Cox. “We’ve just endured a divisive year,” she said. “We must unite as a party to preserve freedom.”
She addressed what she called an “attack on energy” in the Western United States by the Biden Administration by not renewing oil and gas leases on federal land.
Concluding her speech, Henderson called on delegates to “unite, to offer each other some grace, and stand up for what we know is right.”
Representative Chris Stewart
Congressman Chris Stewart gave his speech extemporaneously. He told the delegates he trusted them and that he would not gather signatures during his re-election campaign next year.
He encouraged Utah Republicans to work hard next year to protect Utah’s all-Republican delegation and to even volunteer to unseat House Democrats in neighboring states. Stewart pointed to the 2022 midterm elections as an opportunity to retake the U.S. House of Representatives; and by so doing, possibly give him an opportunity to chair the House Intelligence Committee.
Stewart took a hard stand against the media. “The media is actively deceptive, they lie to you, and that includes local news,” he said. Stewart referenced The Salt Lake Tribune’s recently published cartoon by Pat Bagley comparing Rep. Burgess Owens to the Ku Klux Klan as a demonstration of the media’s lies and evidence that some “liberals are racists.”
Representative Blake Moore
Congressman Blake Moore gave what is commonly referred to in political circles as the “humble speech.” He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to represent Utah’s first congressional district, and how citizens have taught him a lot in the few months he’s been in office.
He pledged to do his “part in delivering a House majority for republicans in 2022.” Moore warned that the Democrats’ “spending agenda and debt culture spells disaster for our country” if Republicans don’t take back power.
Representative Burgess Owens
Congressman Burgess Owens stumbled over his words throughout his speech but regained composure quickly. He thanked delegates and their neighbors for “building a culture that drew me here to this valley.”
Owens urged Republicans to be proud of what they have done and to never apologize for who they are and what they believe in. He said he is not intimidated by the “racist Trib, or bigots like Bagley.”
He ended his speech, saying that Republicans must teach their kids why our country is great. “We are the least racist state in the union,” Owens said, “and the least racist country in the world.”
Representative John Curtis
Congressman John Curtis did not attend the convention due to “a scheduling conflict with a Republican congressional retreat.” Curtis staffers Adrielle Herring and Cory Norman presented legislative achievement by Curtis and showed an impressive campaign commercial that listed various accomplishments.
State Attorney General Sean Reyes
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes opened his speech by praising party leadership for hosting an in-person convention. The majority of his remarks focused on his fight against D.C. statehood, calling it “unconstitutional.”
He also encouraged delegates to help the party sustain its dominance in the state. Utah’s population continues to grow and is projected to vote more Democrat because of out-of-state move-ins and younger voters leaving the GOP. “Pollsters tell us we are outnumbered, but we will find victory with a united party,” Reyes said.
