Opinion: The caucus and convention system is doing its job

Many recent opinion pieces have been published claiming the caucus and convention system in Utah fails because it “does not reflect the will of the people.”
In the caucus and convention system, delegates are selected in neighborhood elections across every precinct in the state. This provides the grassroots input of active Republicans into party control. The delegates then evaluate the candidates for public office who seek the party endorsement.
These articles cite as evidence the occasions where the candidates who win the convention vote are not the same ones that win the primary vote. These opinions completely misstate the role of the caucus and convention system, and so they reach a wrong conclusion.
If we wanted to predict or mirror the results of the primary, we would simply skip the convention and go directly to a primary. Clearly, simple logic tells us that we do not go through the effort of the convention process just to imitate the primary.
The caucus system is meant to influence the primary result, not to predict it.
Most Utahns would agree that one thing wrong with politics is that elections are often overly influenced more by wealth and name recognition than by evaluation of the candidate’s support of correct Republican principles. Donations from special interests and from out of state have too much influence because many voters do not research the candidates beyond what they see in 30-second TV ads, mailers and billboards.
The caucus system is a counterbalance to money and fame in politics. With the support activities of the Utah County Republican Party, the convention nominees won 12 out of 18 primaries.
Even so, despite our best efforts as a political party towards merit-based elections, money and name recognition will sometimes win with massive and overwhelming spending.
For example, Gov. Spencer J. Cox, according to public records, spent twice as much ($2 million) through the primary campaign as did the convention nominee, Phil Lyman. Yet the primary results were fairly close — only 54% Cox to 45% Lyman. In other words, Cox spent much more money per vote than Lyman.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that John Curtis spent 2.5 times his nearest opponent, but he did not get 2.5 times the number of votes — 48% to 33% (only 15% more votes).
The convention-nominated candidates are very popular on their own merits, despite being massively outspent.
The caucus and convention system is actually doing its job of advocating for conservative candidates who are not beholden to large donors and special interest groups. Even when our candidates are outspent, our nominees help to publicize the message of Republican values. This helps to educate voters and remind the money-based candidates of the power of the Republican platform. This may influence our elected officials to have more loyalty to conservative principles, knowing they will be held accountable.
The delegates meet with candidates for personal conversations so they can get past the fluff of over-simplified media. They interview each candidate. A recent survey of Utah County Republican Delegates shows that 91% of delegates had a direct conversation with the candidates. How many primary voters do that? The average delegate spent over 60 hours during March and April investigating and vetting all of the candidates. Then, they give all the candidates a review in the form of a vote.
Many people would not dream of selecting something as trivial as a restaurant or a hotel without checking out the number of stars in online reviews. This is the service that the caucus and convention system provides, applied to our candidates. People who are highly engaged, who understand the Republican platform and who have firsthand experience interacting with each candidate rate the candidates according to which ones are best able to put the party platform into governance. Why would voters not value such a review on the important topic of who will serve in our government?
People who criticize the caucus and convention system fail to ask the important question, “Compared to what?” Compared to a primary-only system, heavily influenced by the money of special interests and by name recognition, the careful and thoughtful review provided by delegates is a far superior system for selecting candidates for the primary election.
The caucus and convention system provides an important voice in Utah politics that helps us to elect candidates that truly reflect Utah voters’ values.
Signed by Mike Carpenter, Cristy Henshaw, Mark Cluff, Keri Guinn, Brooks Benson and Wendy Hart of the Utah County Republican Party.
Kirby Glad is the secretary of the Utah County Republican Party.