SALT LAKE
CITY — State Democratic Party Chairman Peter Corroon wants Democrats to be able
to compete to replace Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, who was recently named to
head the Utah State Tax Commission.
But
because Valentine doesn't intend to resign before the Aug. 31 deadline for
setting up a special election to fill his District 14 seat, Republicans will
end up choosing his replacement.
"Whether
it would have become a Democratic seat or not, the issue whether the citizens
should be selecting their next elected official or the Republican Party should
be," Corroon said. He said not
holding an election discourages voters.
"When
we see things like this happen, it breeds more cynicism about our election
process," Corroon said. With an election, he said, "at least we have
the perception that there's a two-party system."
Valentine
said he does not want to step down until his appointment by Gov. Gary Herbert
is confirmed by the state Senate. Because the Legislature is not holding
interim meetings in August, the soonest that can happen is mid-September.
"If
I resign before I actually have the appointment, that just seems presumptuous
to me," Valentine said. He said he still has to go through a confirmation
hearing that has yet to be scheduled.
State law would allow political parties
to select candidates to appear on the November ballot for the remaining two
years of Valentine's term if he were to leave office by Aug. 31.
Valentine
said he took some to consider whether to take the tax commission post, but
"there wasn't any kind of calculation" about the election deadline.
The governor announced the appointment on Aug. 4.
Utah Director of Elections Mark Thomas
said his office contacted the Senate to see if there were plans to hold a
confirmation session in August and was told it was not possible.
Lawmakers skipped interim meetings this month because many are
participating in gatherings out of state, including the National Conference of
State Legislators summit in Minneapolis.
Thomas
said the law requiring a vacancy that occurs before Aug. 31 to be put on the
November ballot is recent and had not yet been used. Political party delegates
from the vacant district nominate the candidates, but voters have the final
say.
Once the
deadline has passed, only delegates from the political party that held the
office get to choose. In this case, it would be Republicans in the heavily GOP
Utah County district sending their pick to the GOP governor to appoint.
Voters would benefit from an election,
Thomas said.
"The advantage is to the
voters," he said of having candidates from different political parties vie
for the seat. "If there's an election and we can get it on the ballot, the
voters are the winners."
Corroon
said even though he sees Valentine's confirmation as "pretty
obvious," he doesn't expect the longtime state senator to heed his call
and leave office in time for there to be an election.
"I'm
not hopeful," the party leader said. "But I do hope it will send a
message for future resignations."
Email: lisa@deseretnews.com Twitter: DNewsPolitics
Peter Corroon Utah State Democratic Party Chair
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