SALT LAKE CITY — Delegates to Saturday's state GOP convention are being asked to take the final steps toward ensuring candidates can run as Republicans in next year's elections.
"Going into the convention, I think everyone understands what needs to be done," Utah Republican Party Chairman James Evans said. "So I'm looking for this convention to be a productive one."
Nearly a fourth of the 4,000 GOP delegates participated in a conference call earlier this week to discuss four proposed amendments to the state party constitution that Evans said needs to be approved to comply with a controversial new law.
Evans believes all of the amendments, which he described as "lawyerly," now have enough support to be approved during Saturday's day-long meeting at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy.
"I think the delegates see overall that what we will have in place is a balance," he said, between keeping Republicans on the ballot and continue the fight to preserve the state's unique caucus and convention system for nominating candidates.
The GOP is suing the state over the law, passed by the 2014 Legislature and known as SB54, that allows candidates to gather signatures to earn a place on the primary ballot instead of vying for the support of delegates at a party convention.
Evans initially said the party wouldn't be able to act quickly enough to comply with the law, a compromise with backers of the Count My Vote initiative to replace the nominating system with a direct primary election.
But after losing a bid for a preliminary injunction against the law earlier this year, the party has been taking action to become what's known as a qualified political party, still able to advance candidates.
Their efforts have not been without friction.
Gov. Gary Herbert has described the infighting among his fellow Republicans as a civil war. A former state representative, Chris Herrod, has called for Republicans who bypass the caucus and convention system to be thrown out of the party.
Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said he believes the amendments that will go before delegates Saturday aren't necessary to keep Republicans on the ballot next year.
Instead, he said, they are intended "to keep everyone from picking up their pitchforks" by allowing them what they can view as a "protest vote" against the new law.
Weiler has taken issue with a proposed amendment that states candidates with enough support at the party's convention "shall proceed to the general election," calling it "intellectually dishonest" because parties no longer control nominations.
He also criticized another proposal that spells out new requirements for membership in the GOP "may be further set forth" in the party's bylaws, suggesting it is "a blank check."
But Weiler also had praise for Evans.
"I think James Evans has been absolutely brilliant in brining different factions together to get us this far," the state senator said. If the proposed amendments are "what he had to do to do that, they're probably worth it."
Evans said the proposals were crafted by the party's attorneys to both comply with the new law and stay in place should the GOP succeed in getting the courts to reject SB54.
"It can't be dishonest because we're proceeding to make sure we're addressing several concerns at one time," the party chairman said. "We've been consistent as a party. We don't support SB54."
The sponsor of the new law, Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, said SB54 put Evans "in a very difficult and tenuous position, trying to navigate how to keep the party together, how to address the concerns with very strong and passionate opinions."
Bramble told KSL Newsradio's Doug Wright Thursday he expects there will be "a robust debate" at the convention, but the party will meet the new criteria to participate in the 2016 elections.
That criteria includes opening up primary elections to unaffiliated voters. Currently, only members of the GOP can vote in a Republican primary election. That issue is not on Saturday's agenda.
Delegates will, however, chose new party leaders. Evans is now running unopposed for a second two-year term after Nancy Lord, a former Utah GOP national committeewoman, withdrew her candidacy.
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