The Utah GOP opted for caucuses instead of a primary this year. Neighborhoods met to select chairs and county and state delegates to represent their precincts Tuesday. To participate, voters had to be registered Republicans and go in person to mark their ballots.
Marjorie Manning is the treasurer of the Summit County Republican Party. She said a record 425 people attended the Snyderville Basin and Park City area caucus. For some, it was their first.
“We had a lot of new people step up, even somebody who just turned 18 years old.”
Jimmy May is the Park City regional chair of the Summit County Republican Party. He said while high turnout is good, it came with challenges.
“There was some technical glitches,” May said. “The state [party] has rolled out a new digital infrastructure.”
Results for the Snyderville Basin and Park City regions are not yet available.
Jerry Heck is the South Summit regional chair for the Summit County Republican Party. He said almost 160 people attended its caucus which also struggled with the new GOP digital infrastructure.
“The best improved scenario for the computer to do it again next time," Heck said, "is to get the information out, as far as how to use the apps, a whole lot sooner."
He said former President Donald Trump received almost 70% of the votes in the South Summit region with Nikki Haley close to 30%.
As of March 6, 80% of Utah’s preliminary results were in. Trump won over 57% of the vote while Haley had more than 41%. Haley suspended her presidential campaign Wednesday. If Trump garners over 50% in all precincts, he secures all of Utah’s 40 delegates.
Utah Democrats made their presidential picks in a primary. Preliminary results show 36% of the almost 7,000 registered Democrats in Summit County participated.
Summit County Clerk Eve Furse said the almost 2,500 voters were more than expected.
“I would attribute that to people's familiarity with mail-in ballots," she said. "It all went very smoothly.”
President Joe Biden had almost 92% of the ballots in Summit County and over 87% of the vote statewide. Official results will be released on March 19.
