By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Election season has arrived across the nation. While many think that only the Primary and General elections play a pivotal role in deciding the next round of leadership, both locally and nationwide, community caucuses play a pivotal role in the process.
For both the Carbon County Republican and Democratic parties, community caucus night arrives on Tuesday, March 17.
The KOAL newsroom was joined by both Republican Party Chair Tina Urbanik and Democratic Party Chair Allen Sumnall to preview their respective caucus nights.
Republican Caucus Night
The Carbon County Republican Party will meet on Tuesday, March 17, beginning at 6 p.m., at Carbon High School.
“We start taking people in at 6 p.m. And then assembly begins at 7 p.m.,” shared Urbanik. “At 6 p.m., when you come in, you want to make sure you have your ID. We are going to credential you, we’re going to match your ID with your voter registration, and make sure that your address matches.”
For those looking to update their voter registration, they can visit vote.utah.gov or visit the Carbon County Clerk/Auditor’s office.
Although the voting and delegate process is limited to only registered Republicans, the party welcomes everyone who is looking to get involved. “Caucus draws a lot of attention, and it brings a lot of people. That’s what we encourage; we encourage you to come out and be involved. So whether you are Republican or not, you are very welcome to come listen.”
Following the caucus on Thursday, March 19, the Carbon County GOP will host a meet-the-candidates forum at the Mont Harmon Middle School auditorium beginning at 7 p.m.
“We definitely remain neutral as a party until after the primary, when we have an actual Republican candidate, so we want it to be as neutral and fair for every candidate,” explained Urbanik of the event. “So we are already taking questions from the public … We can’t guarantee that each question will be asked, because they’re going to be put into a big pool of questions. And then it will be a lottery draw; each candidate will choose a question, which will then be handed to the moderator. The moderator will then ask them that question. We feel that is the most neutral way.”
To submit a question, email tina4pricecity@gmail.com. Questions must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 16, to give time for preparation.
“I just encourage you to come out to caucus,” closed Urbanik. “Please come and be involved. I would encourage people that if they are in those precinct meetings, to truly vet the people that are wanting to run for these positions. Make sure that they really, truly embody the Republican values that you have, and that you want represented in your area and representing you personally.”
Democratic Caucus Night
The Carbon County Democratic Party Caucus will convene on Tuesday, March 17, beginning at 6 p.m., in the United Mine Workers of America Building located at 525 East 100 South in Price, Utah.
“The caucus is basically the beginning process where we decide as a group who is going to represent us both at the county convention for county races and then also for the state convention for the state and federal races,” explained Sumnall of the event’s purpose.
In contrast to the Republican Party’s closed caucus system, the Democratic Caucus is open to those who aren’t registered Democrats.
“You can be a Democrat, you can be independent, you can be a Republican,” said Sumnall. “And what we really like about that is I think with a closed caucus we’ve seen that there tends to be a move in a certain direction in a closed caucus … not so much in Carbon County, but in other areas, it’s the most reactionary that show up, the most committed that show up. And that has the tendency to drive the party in a direction that moves away from the more moderate middle position, which is really where the Utah Democrats lie. And so a Republican is welcome to come to our caucus and make their case as to why they would be a good delegate to represent Carbon County.”
At the event, voters will have the opportunity to meet the Democratic candidates for Carbon County Commissioner and the candidate for the vacant House District 67 seat.
Moving forward, the party will host its county convention on Saturday, March 28, starting at 3 p.m. in Mont Harmon Middle School.
“The convention is just a time where we will introduce the people who are running. We’ll give them some time to speak, and there’ll be plenty of time for people to meet them one-on-one.”
During this process, participants will hear from local and state candidates, as well as federal candidates vying for a spot representing Utah’s Third congressional district.
Closing our conversation, Sumnall gave a push for voters to get out and attend their caucus and convention,” The conventions give you a chance to actually listen to the people, listen to what they want to do, what their thoughts are; both in where our country sits right now and our vision for the country. Regardless of the party you belong to, the real goal is we want stability, we want economic prosperity, we want a country that is providing all of those good things.”