Northern Utah Republicans used to meet at Rulon Peterson's Roy barn for GOP rallies and fund-raisers.
But the family and members of the local Republican Party are split over a primary race for House District 11, where incumbent Rep. Carl Saunders has tough competition from GOP challenger Jeff Powars.And as it has through the decades, the Peterson family is playing a role in the race.
Generations of Petersons have been politically involved in House District 11, which takes in Riverdale, Washington Ter-race, Uintah, a sliver of east Roy and Hill Air Force Base. Rulon Peterson was a big GOP supporter, son Lowell Peterson was a longtime Utah lawmaker, and grandsdon Doug Peterson had a stint there, too.
Powars, a Riverdale city councilman and a business and estate planning attorney, came out ahead of Saunders at the state nominating convention. And he's split Peterson family support. Doug Peterson is campaigning for Powars, and the elder Peterson is backing Saunders.
"I've got quite a connection with the Peterson family, but strange things happen," Saunders said. "I was hoping for more party loyalty, but everyone has their own free agency in this country."
Powars is somewhat apologetic about entering the race, "but I'm ready to get involved. I didn't want to wait for him to retire," he said. "He's near 70, and I'm in this for the long haul."
Powars, 39, is married and has a 10-year-old child.
Whoever wins the primary election June 23 will be up against Donald "Biff" Whiting, of Ogden, in the general election. Whiting is running as a Democrat after establishing a name for himself in 1996 as an Independent Party member who supported a "public humiliation" approach to criminal punishment.
House District 11 has a rich Republican history, and the Peterson family and Saunders all play a part.
Six years ago, 25-year-old Doug Peterson beat Democrat Byron Anderson to become the youngest person ever elected to the state's House of Representatives. The younger Peterson was engaging and popular as a lawmaker but in 1996 was negotiating a position with the national Republican Governors Association and thought he might be leaving the state.
He originally filed to run, but as the job prospect progressed, he recruited Saunders to run in his place.
The job didn't work out and political insiders say Peterson asked Saunders to back out of the 1996 race at the last minute. Saunders wouldn't.
That, say legislative leaders close to the race, is why Peterson is backing Powars.
Saunders went on to beat Byron Anderson, who was making another run for the seat, but he may have a harder road this time.
Despite the House district's history, Powars hopes to win the election on his promise to help communities control what happens within their own borders and "taking care of business locally."
"I'm just hoping that the people here are looking forward to something different."
Powars is trying to focus on state issues. He's concerned about the tax structure, including the fairness of the gas tax, which he says creates inequities between folks in Salt Lake County and rural areas such as Box Elder or Grand counties, where residents don't get the benefits of I-15 construction.
He also supports legislation that helps individuals but not laws that place more bureaucracy upon them. As officials study regulation of home schooling programs, he opposes a whole new level of bureaucracy.
"Is there going to be a home school cop? That kind of thing concerns me."
Saunders, a retired dentist who works now in real estate, seems a little dumbfounded to have a GOP challenger. It's the first time in his political career.
"He's a young attorney who wants to be involved in politics. You can't knock that," Saunders said.
But he's concerned that he hasn't heard from Powars on any issue during the last two years. "He's never called and talked to me about anything. If he had concerns, I would have thought he should have been in touch with me."
Saunders still has work he'd like to do on Utah's Capitol Hill. He still believes the minimum age for marriage should be moved from age 14 to 16. He still wants to improve tobacco laws, beyond his successful effort to force retailers to put tobacco products behind the counter.
Powars won't criticize Saunders' on-the-job performance but says he would do things differently; he'd be more involved with local issues and less concerned with widespread, global issues.
He is a big proponent of localized government and is particularly concerned with a community's right to decide how to develop.
Riverdale is now being sued by a developer who believes "they should be able to do anything they want in our city regardless of how it affects traffic, services and quality of life," he said.
"Developers should not be able to tell those communities how to run their cities."