Embattled state Rep. Loretta Baca, D-Salt Lake, will not be back on Capitol Hill when the 2001 Legislature convenes. At least not as a lawmaker.
Baca's bid for a fourth term was cut short Saturday when she was soundly defeated during a caucus vote in the Salt Lake County Democratic Convention. Replacing her as the Democratic candidate for House District 29 will be newcomer David Litvack, a 27-year-old human-rights activist with the National Conference for Community and Justice.Baca's defeat was not much of a surprise to fellow Democrats who have watched as Baca's personal troubles have mounted in recent years. She has been accused of assault, she has been criticized for absenteeism and erratic behavior during legislative sessions and, most recently, she was the target of a lawsuit by a news reporter who said she was improperly detained by Capitol security at Baca's request.
The personal problems "probably did play into it," Baca said of the defeat. "The media never printed my side of the story. They sensationalized things."
She also accused both opponents, Litvack and David Berg, who finished third behind Baca, of making her personal problems an issue with county delegates to further their own campaigns. And she suggested party officials were behind the campaign to oust her, saying Litvack received a list of delegates one week before she did and therefore had an insurmountable head start in the campaign.
"That is absolutely untrue," Litvack said. "I said from the very beginning I would not bring it up. And I didn't."
As to the list of delegates, Litvack said he simply worked hard to contact those who had served as delegates in years past to determine if they were going to be delegates again. He introduced himself and his campaign and developed relationships that paid off on the first ballot when he garnered 67 percent of the vote (60 percent is needed to avoid a primary).
"She had access to the same information at the same time I did," he said.
Salt Lake County Democrats avoided pri-
mary elections in all but one contested race, that for the Salt Lake County Council District 6 seat, where James C. Cage and Pete Kutulas will face off for the party's nomination.
In the only other contested council race, James J. Brusatto defeated Alan R. Anderson by a 66 to 34 percent margin.
Like spring baseball when every team believes it has a chance to win the pennant, Democrats were effusive in rating their prospects against majority Republicans in the November elections. One speaker after another gushed at how the field of Democrats was the best ever, and some even boasted Democrats would sweep major Utah elections and take control of the House and Senate.
"It is a great year to be a Democrat," said Scott Howell, who is stepping down from the Utah Senate to run against three-term U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch.
It seems unlikely Democrats will pull off a sweep in a Republican-dominated state like Utah, but Democrats were boisterously predicting major changes. And in most respects, they stood united.
One exception was Salt Lake County Council candidate Mark Walsh, whose job as executive director of the Utah Association of Counties has put him at odds with Utah's strongly Democratic environmental community. The Utah Association of Counties has repeatedly challenged the scope of wilderness designations and has gone to court to overturn President Clinton's designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
"We don't need someone from Salt Lake County carrying Escalante's line for them," said Bob Walton, one of the delegates who expressed reservations about Walsh's candidacy. "My fear is he would seek to allocate Salt Lake County tax money to further the anti-wilderness agenda of the Utah Association of Counties."
Walsh was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for the District 3 seat. Other council candidates unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination included Randy Horiuchi, M. Carl Larsen, Jim Bradley, Joe Hatch, Michael R. Duncan and Paulina Flint. Karen Crompton ran unopposed for the party nomination for county mayor.
The county convention, held at Salt Lake Community College, featured only one other contested race with an incumbent. Rep. Brent Goodfellow, D-Salt Lake, handily defeated Scott Spendlove by winning almost 91 percent of the delegate votes.
The delegates will also vote in the Democratic state convention on May 6.
Here are other races that avoided primary contests:
Former Judge Scott Daniels will be the nominee for House District 25, garnering 71 percent of the votes to defeat Lawrence R. Barusch.
Ty McCartney will carry the Democratic banner for the House District 31 seat, defeating Connie A. Sorensen by a 69 to 31 percent margin.
Dennis C. Carty will be the nominee for House District 34, winning 82 percent of the votes to defeat Deidre Ann Tyler.
Cindy Beshear defeated Elmer J. Steinike by a 70 to 30 percent margin in the House District 39 race.
Beverly J. May defeated C.B. Stirling by a 77 to 23 percent margin in the House District 49 race.
James Bramble will be the nominee for Senate District 6, winning 94 percent of the votes to defeat Cynthia Eve Evans.
Baca said she would have done well if she forced a primary election. She said people were calling her all the time to express support and praise her voting record.
Still, Baca says she is not bitter about the defeat. "I know I did a great job, I represented the people in my district and I had a great voting record," she said. "I regret it (the loss) was because of attacks by people who blew things out of proportion."
The convention did not address changes to the Salt Lake County Democrat Party platform.