Republicans and Democrats convened at their respective party conventions this spring to organize party activities and decide on their leaders.
Republicans met March 28 at South Summit High School, and Democrats met April 25 at Park City High School.
Officers for both parties serve two-year terms, which means they’ll be in charge of organizing for 2024.
Elections in off years, like 2023, are for nonpartisan municipal positions. But the deadline to file paperwork to run for elected office in 2024 is right around the corner in January.
Melanie Monastere was elected as chair of the Summit County Republican Party, and Katy Owens Hubler was re-elected as the chair for the Democrats.
Also newly elected on the Democratic side are Secretary Lilah Rosenfield and North Summit Vice Chair Kacey Bates, who took over from the previous vice chair in December.
The entire Republican executive committee is new, except for Jerry Heck, the regional chair for South Summit County.
Summit County Republican Executive Committee
- Chair - Melanie Monestere
- Vice Chair - Rod Daniells
- Snyderville Basin Regional Chair - Jay Deuser
- Park City Regional Chair - N/A
- North Summit Regional Chair - Katie Harmon
- South Summit Regional Chair - Jerry Heck
- Secretary - Denise Bell
- Treasurer - Marjorie Manning
- Summit County Council Representative - Tory Welch
Summit County Democratic Executive Committee
- Chair - Katy Owens Hubler
- Park City Vice Chair - Cate Brabson
- North Summit Vice Chair - Kacey Bates
- South Summit Vice Chair - N/A
- Snyderville Basin Vice Chair - Chris Neville
- Secretary - Lilah Rosenfield
- Treasurer - N/A
- State Committeeman - Glenn Wright
- State Committeewoman - Beth Armstrong
County Republicans are still looking for a Park City Regional Chair, and Democrats need a South Summit Vice Chair and Treasurer. Anyone who’s interested can reach out to the respective parties’ leadership.
Hubler said the Democrats’ convention was a chance to debrief the 2022 midterms.
“We did quite well in elections on the county level,” Hubler said. “And we were very happy actually, with our numbers on state legislative seats as well.”
All of Summit County’s elected positions are currently filled by Democrats, but Republicans dominate at the state level. In Utah, 23 of 29 the senators and 61 of 75 House representatives are Republicans.
Utah House Democrat Brian King spoke to county Democrats, as did County Councilmember Malena Stevens.
Both debriefed membership on the 2023 General Session of the Utah Legislature, which county officials have generally said was tough for Summit County, whether because of targeted land use bills or missing out on funding for things like roads.
There were plenty of speakers at the Republicans’ county convention, most of whom kept remarks brief. The longest discussion was going over revisions to the county Republicans’ constitution.
“There was great energy in the room as we look to the next two years for Summit County,” Monestere said.
U.S. Representative John Curtis’ campaign manager Adrielle Herring spoke, as did State Representative Kera Birkeland and State Senator John Johnson.
The old and new state party chairs, Carson Jorgensen and Rob Axson also gave brief comments. Axson took over for Jorgenson at Utah’s state GOP convention April 22.
Democrats’ state party convention will be May 19 and May 20 in Cedar City at Southern Utah University. Only state delegates may vote, but all can attend.
