democrats | Alliance for a Better Utah

Utah House passes congressional vacancy bill over objections of Democrats

Better Utah February 11, 2020

This article originally appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune. Read it in its entirety here. A hard-won compromise over filling congressional vacancies in Utah took another step forward Tuesday, earning passage through the House of Representatives on a party-line vote. The proposal seeks to resolve years of bickering that began in 2017 with the resignation of former Rep. Jason Chaffetz. The state law was largely silent on

Proud to be disloyal

Josh Kanter August 26, 2019

According to recent reports, President Trump has said that Jews who vote for Democrats are either ignorant or disloyal. Though it’s unclear whether he is suggesting that a vote for Democrats is disloyal to him, to the United States, or to Israel, I will wear the badge of disloyalty with pride. In fact, I am

Imagine if it was Democrats squeezing GOP out of state boards

Better Utah February 25, 2017

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune Imagine Utah is a state controlled by Democrats. Hard to picture, I know, but go with me on this for the sake of seeing things from the other side. The governor is a Democrat. All four congressional representatives are Democrats. Both senators are Democrats. There are only 12 Republicans in

GOP chair James Evans is wrong to oppose debates

Better Utah August 20, 2014

We’ve talked before about Utah’s disappointingly low voter turnout rate. We believe strongly that healthy political debate is crucial in helping educate voters and encourage turnout. With that in mind, we partnered with KCPW, a Salt Lake valley radio station, and the John R. Park Debate Society at the University of Utah to sponsor five legislative

Delegates say yes to voter suppression at convention

Better Utah April 30, 2014

The Better UTAH Beat airs Tuesday afternoons on KVNU’s For the People. Podcasts of previous episodes are available here. —– Four-thousand. That’s the number of delegates in the Utah Republican party. And a majority of them are out to get your vote. They don’t want you voting at all. Though both Democratic and Republican delegates opposed the

A challenge to Democrats by a loyal dissenter

Better Utah April 22, 2014

A fitting follow-up to a post I wrote two weeks ago on Utah’s unbalanced two-party system is a recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune by Paul Rolly about Utah’s defective caucus system. Rolly suggests that the lack of candidates is a result of the current caucus/convention system. While his point is arguably true, Rolly’s article

Power is difficult to come by in politics

Better Utah February 12, 2014

The Better UTAH Beat airs Tuesday afternoons on KVNU’s For the People. Podcasts of previous episodes are available here. —– We hear a lot about power today. Who has it. Who doesn’t have it. Who wants it. Paul Rolly of the Salt Lake Tribune has twice devoted column space in the last week to discussing power, first

Count My Vote initiative scratches the surface

Better Utah October 16, 2013

The Better UTAH Beat airs Tuesday afternoons on KVNU’s For the People. Podcasts of previous episodes are available here. —– It’s no secret that voter engagement in Utah is at an all-time low. Utah used to rank in the top few states for voter turnout but we are now consistently in the bottom few, battling it for

UTA pass giveaway suggests more can be done

Better Utah June 12, 2013

For those hoping to take advantage of UTA’s July pass giveaway, you’re too late. Those 2500 week-long passes were gone after just 26 hours. If the UTA giveaway sounds familiar, that’s because a similar program was initially proposed by House Democrats back in February after the Salt Lake Valley had gone through a string of

Slippery slopes: The all-or-nothing politics

Better Utah March 11, 2013

An editorial penned by Better UTAH Board Member Sheryl Allen appeared in the Sunday edition of the Salt Lake Tribune. Allen argues that “progressivism is the political philosophy which advocates for human agency,” and that it is inherent in Utah’s cultural past. For Allen, the current breed of conservatism currently seizing up Utah politics is an

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