Winston Churchill said, “Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.”
True, but I can’t quite figure out what sort of business Utah lawmakers were up to nearly two years ago when they moved the deadline up for filing a declaration of candidacy for elected office.
Beginning next month, that declaration period will be from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8. This is thanks to SB170, which passed the Legislature in 2022 with little opposition (the vote was 27-0 in the Senate and 59-11 in the House, not counting absences).
True, but I can’t quite figure out what sort of business Utah lawmakers were up to nearly two years ago when they moved the deadline up for filing a declaration of candidacy for elected office.
Beginning next month, that declaration period will be from Jan. 2 to Jan. 8. This is thanks to SB170, which passed the Legislature in 2022 with little opposition (the vote was 27-0 in the Senate and 59-11 in the House, not counting absences).
What this means is that, for the first time in memory, the candidate filing deadline will come before the Legislature convenes, which this year will be Jan. 16.
In other words, every lawmaker who is up for re-election will know during the session whether he or she faces a primary challenger, or even opposition from someone in another party (which isn’t always a sure thing in Utah.)
But what does this mean, really? For an answer, I asked Gov. Spencer Cox.
“I don’t know if it’s better or worse,” he said when I posed the question toward the end of his budget presentation to the Deseret News earlier this month. He acknowledged that he and his staff have thought about it and debated it.
Cox, who already knows he will face opposition from Democratic lawmaker Rep. Brian King next fall, said it’s “kind of nice to know” what the political field looks like.
But will a sure knowledge of the political landscape change how people vote during the 45-day session? To that, the best I could get was a shrug. The truth is, politics always has been lurking at the Legislature, no matter when the filing deadline was.
In the past, some lawmakers may have voted a certain way because they were afraid of attracting a primary challenger. The earlier deadline removes that threat.
“It may be helpful for people to know they don’t have someone running against them,” the governor said. The implication there is that those people might be freer to vote their conscience.
On the other hand, someone who knows he or she has an opponent might be influenced in a different direction, and, of course, some lawmakers always have been aware, during the legislative session, of their opponents.
Last week, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson moved the filing deadline for unaffiliated presidential candidates from Jan. 8 to March 5, largely because of a lawsuit by candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But state elections director Ryan Cowley told me that doesn’t affect the earlier deadlines for other candidates.
The early filing deadline was part of a much larger bill designed to provide more clarity to the political landscape heading into caucus meetings. Those who wish to bypass the state convention process and instead get on the ballot by gathering signatures on petitions will have just as much time to do so as always.
The bill’s sponsors, Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, and Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, sold it as a boon for transparency and a boost for greater involvement in the political process.
Despite the overwhelming support, one lawmaker, Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, disagreed. In a committee hearing in 2022, he said the change seemed to provide “protection for incumbents.” He predicted the early deadlines would lead to fewer candidates.
Wayne Woodfield, vice chair of the United Utah Party, told the hearing his party usually begins receiving inquiries from potential candidates in January. These tend to be political novices who want to get involved, but who probably won’t pay attention to early deadlines. Now, he said, he will have no choice but to tell them it’s too late; they have to wait two more years for a chance to run.
Only 12 other states require candidate declarations by February or earlier, according to Ballotpedia.org. Several of those require it late in the previous year.
So, which is it? Will the change help Utah lawmakers cement themselves in office, or will it encourage more people to jump in early? Will it allow lawmakers to vote their conscience, free from worry of consequences, or will it make every vote taken by someone with a declared opponent suspect?
“It will change the dynamic, I just can’t say what it’s going to look like,” Cox said.
Of course it will, because, as Churchill understood, nothing about the earnest business of politics is non-political.
In other words, every lawmaker who is up for re-election will know during the session whether he or she faces a primary challenger, or even opposition from someone in another party (which isn’t always a sure thing in Utah.)
But what does this mean, really? For an answer, I asked Gov. Spencer Cox.
“I don’t know if it’s better or worse,” he said when I posed the question toward the end of his budget presentation to the Deseret News earlier this month. He acknowledged that he and his staff have thought about it and debated it.
Cox, who already knows he will face opposition from Democratic lawmaker Rep. Brian King next fall, said it’s “kind of nice to know” what the political field looks like.
But will a sure knowledge of the political landscape change how people vote during the 45-day session? To that, the best I could get was a shrug. The truth is, politics always has been lurking at the Legislature, no matter when the filing deadline was.
In the past, some lawmakers may have voted a certain way because they were afraid of attracting a primary challenger. The earlier deadline removes that threat.
“It may be helpful for people to know they don’t have someone running against them,” the governor said. The implication there is that those people might be freer to vote their conscience.
On the other hand, someone who knows he or she has an opponent might be influenced in a different direction, and, of course, some lawmakers always have been aware, during the legislative session, of their opponents.
Last week, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson moved the filing deadline for unaffiliated presidential candidates from Jan. 8 to March 5, largely because of a lawsuit by candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But state elections director Ryan Cowley told me that doesn’t affect the earlier deadlines for other candidates.
The early filing deadline was part of a much larger bill designed to provide more clarity to the political landscape heading into caucus meetings. Those who wish to bypass the state convention process and instead get on the ballot by gathering signatures on petitions will have just as much time to do so as always.
The bill’s sponsors, Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, and Rep. Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, sold it as a boon for transparency and a boost for greater involvement in the political process.
Despite the overwhelming support, one lawmaker, Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, disagreed. In a committee hearing in 2022, he said the change seemed to provide “protection for incumbents.” He predicted the early deadlines would lead to fewer candidates.
Wayne Woodfield, vice chair of the United Utah Party, told the hearing his party usually begins receiving inquiries from potential candidates in January. These tend to be political novices who want to get involved, but who probably won’t pay attention to early deadlines. Now, he said, he will have no choice but to tell them it’s too late; they have to wait two more years for a chance to run.
Only 12 other states require candidate declarations by February or earlier, according to Ballotpedia.org. Several of those require it late in the previous year.
So, which is it? Will the change help Utah lawmakers cement themselves in office, or will it encourage more people to jump in early? Will it allow lawmakers to vote their conscience, free from worry of consequences, or will it make every vote taken by someone with a declared opponent suspect?
“It will change the dynamic, I just can’t say what it’s going to look like,” Cox said.
Of course it will, because, as Churchill understood, nothing about the earnest business of politics is non-political.
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