Issue 22.17
Jason Chaffetz shocked the political world by announcing he would be stepping down as the Congressman for the Utah 3rd Congressional district on June 30th. While it is his right to do so since no one can be compelled to serve in an elected office, his departure leaves many questions hanging in the air. Was he forced to quit by some unknown entity? Was it, as he says, desiring more time with his family? Is it because he wants to pursue other interests, jobs or political opportunities? We may never know or it may become obvious over the next few months. In any case, his resigning in the midst of a term of office has created quite a storm in relation to how to replace him.
Twenty Two individuals have registered as candidates for the soon to be vacant office, six of which did not register as candidates, but as a person intending to gather signatures in order to appear on the ballot. A number of those registering are somewhat well known from previous races. Others are first timers but have connections. If you want to see the complete list, you can go to this link. https://elections.utah.gov/election-resources/2017-candidate-filings?platform=hootsuite
One of the big questions that remain unanswered is how the state will conduct the election. It is interesting to note that, in the case of a vacancy in the US Senate, the governor of the state can appoint a replacement until the next regularly scheduled election. That is not the case for a vacancy in the House of Representatives.
The US Constitution mandates that there be a full election process in the House district in question. That includes the party nominating process, primary elections and a general election. In the current list of candidates, 15 are Republican, 4 are Democrat, 2 are Independent American and 1 is Libertarian. Each party will have to certify their candidate(s) through the normal process of conventions and (if necessary by party rules) a primary. For most parties, a primary is avoided if one of the candidates receives over 60 percent of the votes in the final vote of the convention. The party sets the rules to winnow the number down to two or one.
Because of the fallout from the “Count My Vote” process a couple of years ago, those choosing to gather signatures, may be able to get on the primary or possibly even the final ballot (depending on number of signatures confirmed) even if they do not survive the convention. Two Democrats and four Republicans fall into this category. This confuses matters substantially but as I understand it, will be the way it is for this election.
All of this may change over the next month or so as the governor and the state legislature are jockeying for position in setting the rules for this special election. The political parties want to decide who goes on to the primary and the general election and the governor wants to allow all candidates to be voted on by the people in some way not yet specified. I take these options from the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News articles on the subject that have been written over the last couple of weeks and am depending on their understanding for accuracy as there are a number of things that are not clear in regards to the process.
Hopefully clarity will come soon both for the candidates and for the public. What is not in doubt is that when (and if) Representative Chaffetz steps down as he says he will on June 30th, the 3rd District will not have a representative in Congress other than their Senators until the special election is complete and the winner declared. I don’t know if Mr. Chaffetz understood that when he made his announcement, but it seems to me that it would have been better had he decided to step down as soon as the election was complete. It is unclear however, whether he even could do so in that way, as it may be that the election process could not commence until he officially resigned. It will be interesting to watch the process as it unfolds.
Lynn West is a thinker, a teacher and a patriot. You can reach him through email at forgingthefuture2021@gmail.com or through this newspaper. Liberty is a state of being which must be continually created. These articles can help all of us discover the ways we can contribute to that outcome.