Selecting a candidate for county commissioner will be the top job for Tooele County Republican delegates when they gather Friday night for their party’s nominating convention.
Delegates to the convention will winnow the list of four Republican candidates down to one or two names for the one Tooele County Commission seat up for election this fall.
The county commission seat is the only local race with more than one Republican candidate.
Shawn Milne of Tooele City, the incumbent Republican county commissioner, is being challenged for his bid to a second term by Gordon Beals from Pine Canyon, Brenda Faddis from Stansbury Park, and Danny Marz from Erda.
According to Tooele County Republican Party bylaws, if a candidate gets at least 60 percent of delegate votes at the county convention, the candidate will be advanced to the general election without a primary.
If no candidate gets at least 60 percent, the two candidates with the most votes will face each other in a primary election, according to the bylaws.
This year however, because of Senate Bill 54, the Count My Vote compromise, there may be a Republican primary for county commissioner — even if the convention only selects one candidate.
SB 54 allows candidates to opt to gather signatures on a petition to place their name on the primary ballot, in addition to or instead of going through the convention system. Milne, Faddis and Marz chose the petition route in addition to appearing at Friday’s convention.
At a meeting Tuesday with Republican county delegates, Republican county commission candidates responded to a question that asked if they would use their petition to place their name on the primary ballot if they were unsuccessful at the convention.
Marz said his intention was to go ahead and run in the primary, even if the delegates did not select him as a candidate.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people and they feel that we need a change,” he said.
However, Marz learned on Wednesday from the Tooele County Clerk/Auditor’s office that his petition was short of the required number of signatures.
The convention remains Marz’s only way to get nominated.
Milne and Faddis stated they gathered signatures on petitions because of uncertainty over the new law and how it will be interpreted. The state Republican party is currently suing the state over SB 54.
They also are concerned the state Republican party will not accept the requirements of the law, possibly leaving the petition as the only route to the ballot.
“I got elected last time through the caucus convention system,” said Milne. “I understand it fully and respect it.”
But there are too many unanswered questions by the courts and it is still uncertain if the state party is going to abide by the rules, according to Milne.
“At this time I can’t answer the question,” Milne said.
Faddis echoed Milne’s concerns about the courts and the state party.
“I love the convention. I have participated in the convention before, but not as a candidate,” she said. “I’m waiting to see what happens.”
Beals was the only candidate that did not collect signatures on a petition for candidacy.
“If you don’t vote for me, I won’t be on the ballot,” he said.
The Republican nominee for county commissioner will face Jonathan Garrard of the Constitution Party and Katie Carlile from the Democratic Party in the Nov. 8 general election.
The Tooele County Republican Nominating Convention will be held Friday at Tooele Applied Technology College. A candidate meet and greet will start at 6 p.m. and the convention will be called to order at 7 p.m.