Utah Republicans will have only one major primary election this June 28 - in the 3rd Congressional District where Emery County Commissioner Dixie Thompson will face businessman Tom Draschil, state GOP delegates decided Saturday.
As expected, Sen. Orrin Hatch easily won his party's nomination and doesn't face a primary. Rep. Jim Hansen destroyed Dub Lawrence, and Hansen has no primary, either. And delegates meeting in the University of Utah's Jon Huntsman Center allowed Enid Greene Waldholtz to take out three intra-party opponents. Hatch faces Democrat Pat Shea, Hansen faces Democrat Bobbie Coray and Waldholtz faces Democratic Rep. Karen Shepherd and Independent Merrill Cook (who also won his party's nomination Saturday).While Hatch took the convention with 85 percent of the vote, it was clear some delegates were dissatisfied with aspects of Hatch's record over the past 18 years and disquieted over his length in office. One after another of Hatch's conservative opponents complained about Hatch's "compromises" on constitutional matters - with some applause from the audience - and about his length in office.
While Hatch's nomination presentation and speech were met with warm applause, delegates didn't cheer Hatch as they have in the past.
Feeling the sense of some of the delegates, Hatch and those who spoke in his favor said again and again how valuable Hatch was, how he couldn't quit now in the face of the Democratic Clinton administration and how important his Senate seniority is.
The big question in the 3rd District is, who can beat Democrat Bill Orton. Delegates who voted at Saturday's convention apparently aren't sure.
Thompson says she's that person. "This is time for harmony in the party and choosing a candidate that can beat Bill."
The unity Republicans in the district seek, however, might be disrupted by the emergence of Draschil.
Draschil, who was nominated by Utah Eagle Forum president Gayle Ruzicka, will likely attract the party's more conservative wing. Draschil says the federal government is taking away people's liberty and he promises a "rebirth of freedom."
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney was the convention's keynote speaker. Cheney is considering running for president in 1996 and took issue with President Clinton's treatment of the military, national defense and foreign policy. Plainly put, said Cheney: "We just don't have anyone who is the commander in chief." Clinton believes that U.S. policy had nothing to do with the end of the Cold War and fall of the Soviet Union. His administration believes it is all right to reduce the military and relax because the world is a safer place. "That's a lot of hogwash," said Cheney, a former U.S. House member from Wyoming.
This year, GOP leaders tried to squeeze their state convention into one day, and it was a bit much. Speeches ran long, as they always do at conventions, and some voting didn't start until 3:30 p.m., much later than usual. Microphones didn't work when they were supposed to in the arena and the vast hall dwarfed some of the "spontaneous" cheering by candidate supporters. Delegates in the 3rd District were moved to a nearby gymnasium to hear candidate speeches, but there were too few seats, the lights went out, the air conditioning didn't work and the microphones malfunctioned.
Part of the problem was the number of "minor" candidates, who really didn't have a chance of winning against the powerful incumbents, but who filed for the offices anyway. The nominations for U.S. Senate took almost an hour, with five candidates getting 10 minutes each. Some of the candidates didn't even have anyone to nominate them - they did that themselves. And one candidate for the 2nd District, Martin Banta, didn't even show up at the convention.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Republican State Convention results
Here are the results of the state Republican convention held Saturday. Candidates in bold are outright winners and go to the November general election or face each other in a June 28 GOP primary election. (Multicounty legislative races are voted on in the state convention.)
U.S. Senate
Orrin Hatch 85%
Stephen Christian Heidt 2.6%
Kent Butler 0.77%
Gilbert Majcher 1.5%
Warren W. Hardy 10%
1st District
Jim Hansen 89%
William "Dub" Lawrence 10%
2nd District
Enid Greene Waldholtz 86%
Teri Hendricks 4.5%
Jim Foley 8.8%
Martin Banta 0%
3rd District
Dixie Thompson 48%
Tom Draschil 39%
Brent White (eliminated 1st ballot)
Dale Despain (eliminated 2nd ballot)
Senate District 18 (Weber, Davis counties)
Nathan Tanner 55%
Dixon Pitcher 28%
Evan F. Evans 17%
Senate District 26 (Summit, Wasatch, Duchesne, Uintah, Carbon, Daggett counties)
Alarik Myrin 95%
Janet Einerson Mitchell 5%
Senate District 28 (Sanpete, Sevier, Millard, Juab, Beaver, Garfield, Wayne Piute counties)
Leonard Blackham 75.5%
Clark J. Wall 24.5%
State House District 11 (Weber, Davis counties)
Doug Peterson
Nelson M. Brown (withdrew)
Carl Saunders (withdrew)
House District 55 (Uintah, Daggett counties)
Ronald McKee 52%
Jack Seitz 48%
House District 73 (Beaver, Garfield, Kane, Piute, Sevier, Washington, Wayne counties)
Tom Hatch 58.9%
C. Kay Peterson 26.5%
Bob Russell 14.6%