The mood was festive at the Wasatch Fire District in downtown Heber City Wednesday night, April 8, where about 80 Wasatch County Democrats gathered to hear from candidates and choose delegates for the state convention.
Natalie Herron, a first-time delegate from Charleston, said getting involved in local politics is a way to feel “hopeful and less helpless.” She said she didn’t realize how many Democratic-leaning people live in Wasatch County until she started canvassing.
“We expected to be out for about an hour, and we were out for three and a half hours,” she said. “There are more like-minded people out there than we were aware of.”
Sheila Johnston was another local attending the Democratic convention for the first time: she recently switched party affiliations.
“I have been a lifelong Republican since I was 18 years old,” she said. “I have served at every level… and was really, really involved and believed in what I was doing, and I could back the leaders that were leading our party at that time. But now it’s a tsunami of chaos.”
She said she cares deeply about helping community members who are vulnerable. She’s also an active member of Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
“We’re just caring Christian women who believe in humanity and ethical government and how we conduct ourselves in government – and also how we treat our communities and the people that need it the most,” she said. “I think MWEG is what spurred me on to change. It’s nonpartisan, so we just have a lot of really educated women, caring women, who want to see a change in this country.”
Johnston is part of a larger cultural shift within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: a recent Cooperative Election Study showed Latter-day Saints are the only religious demographic besides atheists that shifted to the left over the past 20 years.
On the Republican side, about 250 delegates gathered at Rocky Mountain Middle School Tuesday, April 7, for the county GOP convention.
At just 17 years old, Bryan Moore was the youngest delegate in the room. He’s a senior at Wasatch High School and will turn 18 in time to vote in November’s general election.
“The entire reason for government is for ‘our posterity,’ and I am the posterity,” he said. “I think that we need representation directly from us. I need to choose people who are going to make decisions that are going to affect me in a positive way.”
Moore is also the president of his school’s Turning Point USA chapter. He said he wanted to become a delegate because he values engaging with other voters.
“Learning from others is a big part of it, and that’s something that I can do here at the convention is learn from others,” he said. “Most of these processes I’ve never really experienced firsthand; I’ve just heard about them in a classroom. So, now, to put them into real life has been a pleasure.”
Jane Thatcher, on the other hand, is a seasoned convention-goer. She’s been a delegate in Heber City for six or seven years and said she wants elected officials to support President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“I think it’s important to be involved and to know what’s going on, and to be willing to give your time and to dedicate yourself to something bigger than you are,” she said. “I'm LDS, I'm very active in church, very strong testimony, and I totally believe in being active in my community.”
Republicans remain the dominant party in Wasatch County: more than 60% of residents voted for Donald Trump in 2024.
Many of the county delegates will go on to represent their parties at the state conventions.
Utah’s statewide Democratic convention is April 24 and 25 in Sandy; the Republican convention is April 25 in Orem.
