Democrats question timing
of Valentine's resignation from Senate
Utah Democrats are taking
issue with the timing Sen. John Valentine will follow to resign from his seat
in the state senate.
While Valentine has been
appointed by Gov. Gary Herbert to become the next chairman of the Utah Tax
Commission, he will not resign from his seat until he is confirmed for his new
position by his senate colleagues.
State Democratic party
chairman Peter Corroon has said Valentine is gaming the system to allow for a
Republican to be appointed to the seat instead of allowing voters choose his
replacement in the November general election.
"It is not possible
to believe in representative government and then circumvent it," Corroon
said in written statement.
"The voters in this senate district will not have any kind
of say in who represents them for the next two years. That is not Republican,
not Democratic, and you would think Republicans would be upset about
that."
Under state law, if a
legislative seat faces a mid-term vacancy in an election year, an election is
to be held to fill the vacancy if the outgoing legislator resigns from the seat
prior to Aug. 31. If the candidate resigns after that time, the seat is filled
by an appointment from the governor.
In Valentine's case, it
was announced earlier this month he would be leaving the senate, but he is not
expected to resign until he is confirmed. When contacted Friday by the Daily
Herald about the situation, Valentine said his intentions are not to protect
the seat from any election but to ensure the seat is not left vacant for a
period of time while a replacement is found.
"I will resign once I
get confirmed, then I can do an orderly transition," Valentine said.
The Orem Republican said
he talked with Corroon on Thursday and explained his stance on the issue.
Valentine said the two agreed to disagree on the matter.
If all goes as planned,
Valentine will be confirmed at the legislature's next interim day in September.
The legislature took August off for a summer break. He then is expected to resign, and Republican delegates from
his district will select a candidate to fill his seat for the remainder of his
term, which is set for two more years.
That candidate's name will
then be forwarded to the governor to be appointed. Once appointed, the new
state senator would be sworn in by the Senate President.
The Utah County Republican
Party has not officially laid out a timetable for when it will replace
Valentine. Party officials have said the plan is to wait to begin the process
until Valentine officially steps down.
"Senator Valentine
has indicated that it would be inappropriate, and even presumptuous, to resign
from office before the Utah State Senate votes on whether or not to confirm
him," said Utah County Republican Chairman Casey Voeks. "It is
disingenuous to suggest that this is a politically timed decision, as no
such discussion has ever taken place between party leaders and Senator
Valentine."
Voeks went on to point out
that the Democrats have not fielded a candidate in Valentine's district in the
past two general elections, and speculated a Democratic candidate would
struggle to win even if an election were to happen to fill the vacancy left by
Valentine.
"Democrats should focus less on fabricating conspiracy
theories and slinging mud, and focus more on nominating candidates,"
Voeks said.
The likelihood that a
Democrat would win Valentine's seat appears to be slim. No Democrat has held a
legislative office in Utah County since 1996, and the last time Valentine was
challenged by a Democrat, in 2004, he won the election with 80 percent of the
vote.
Corroon said that is beside the point.
"People ought to be able to choose who they want to
represent them," he said. "It is a fundamental premise of
representative democracy, and it is violated in this case."
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