It was with great excitement that I decided to run for treasurer in the Davis County Republican Party. In the weeks since then some things have changed. For one thing, there are a number of other good candidates for the position. Much more importantly, life intervened this week in a way that makes it impossible for me to be sure that I can devote the time necessary to the position of treasurer if I should win the race. There is an outside chance that I could answer that question by April 18th when the race is held but with other good candidates in the field I feel it is best to withdraw from the race and deal with my new situation without interfering or worrying about this election contest.

Once I have dealt with the uncertainty that I am currently facing I will work to help the party in any way that I can. Thank you to everyone who has been supportive of my campaign so far. I wish that I could continue the race to help lead the party forward but I will take every opportunity that I can to help in less visible ways.

The campaign season has officially started for Davis County party races and so it’s time to kick into high gear. I don’t plan to make money a central feature of my campaign, but there are costs involved with  trying to contact all the county delegates – especially since we are not allowed to have their email addresses. I think that one thing I will try to do for the party is find a better way to allow people to communicate with delegates across the county. That might be a matter of refining the rules for using the party email list, it might be allowing delegates to opt in to a more open email list, or it might be a matter of providing a new means of communication where delegates can be kept informed without swamping their inboxes.

Of course I will be putting my money down to pay for the things that I need, but I would very much appreciate any donations that anyone would be willing to give to help pay for a mailing and materials for a booth. I would also appreciate any volunteers who would be willing to call delegates in their precinct or even their legislative district. I can provide phone numbers as necessary for anyone who volunteers to help me make phone calls.

I wrote a post about what the Republican Party needs to do to define itself again. To put it briefly, we need to start locally and show that we are more committed to defending our principles than defending our incumbents. We need to hold our representatives accountable to the principles we stand for rather than letting some of them hijack our party principles and retain their seats in the name of incumbency. If we do that at the local and state levels then voters will again begin to trust the party at the national level when the state parties begin showing a willingness to replace tainted incumbents (those who have publicly betrayed the principles of the party) with principled challengers.

That is the kind of party I am hoping to help build, one that shows the voters that when push comes to shove we will adhere to our principles rather than our incumbents should the two come in conflict.

Todd Weiler has decided to run for Vice-Chair of the state Republican Party rather than Chair. He wrote to those who were following his facebook group to explain the decision and gave 5 reasons why he decided to abandon his run for Chair. Reaons three and four really got me thinking:

In order to be fully effective as a party chair, I needed the support of the state and federal delegation of elected officials. That support was running to Dave (Hansen).

Let me be clear. The delegates elect the party chair. I think I would have fared very well in that regard. But after the election, I would have had to raise tremendous amounts to money to keep the party functioning. In order to do that, the party chair needs the support of its elected officials.

I recognize that this is the established order of party politics all over the country but it got me thinking that this is an example on a local level of the culture that perpetuates the reality that incumbents are almost always returned to office even when they should be replaced. Of course our recent history in Utah includes Jason Chaffetz replacing an incumbent congressman, but the reality nationwide is that at least 90% of incumbents seeking re-election retain their seats even when Congress has single-digit approval ratings. That is an undeniable sign of a system that is not healthy.

I have nothing against Todd or his decision. It’s just that this reminded me of the very reason that kept me avoiding a party affiliation for years in apprehension that I could get caught up in such a status quo.

My question is, what can we do to ensure that the power in parties remains in the hands of the party members rather than becoming concentrated in the hands of elected officials (especially with regards to influencing the election of party officers)?

One of the reasons that drives the goals I have for office is my belief that more widespread political involvement is the key to a healthy political system. Widespread involvement is what we need to promote among our society to replace the political apathy that is becoming ever more prevalent. Of course my focus is on Davis County although these observations couldbe applied anywhere. The antidote to apathy is empowerment and the first key to empowerment is information which is why communicating with the citizens of Davis County is a primary goal of office for me (as it should be for anyone holding any office in the county).

One of the pieces of information that people need to understand is where they have the opportunity to have political power. When I was in school we were taught that political power for the people was exercised at the polls. While that is true, my experience has been that real political power does not come in the general elections. More political power is had by participating in primary elections and still more is available to those who participate in the elections where the parties are organized. That is what is taking place on April 18th. While I would encourage everyone to participate in order to vote for me  I am even more desirous to have a strong turnout there so that the people of Davis County can exercise the greatest of political powers that is available to every voter.