This is the week that county delegates for the Tooele County Democratic and Republican parties will gather to give their stamps of approval to their party’s candidates for public office in the 2018 election.
Democrats in Tooele are holding their party’s nominating convention tonight at Tooele City Hall. The evening will start with a central committee meeting at 6 p.m. and the nominating convention at 7:30 p.m.
Tooele County Republicans will hold their nominating convention on April 13 at the Utah Firefighters Museum at the Deseret Peak Complex at 6 p.m. The meeting will start with a meet the candidates period at 6 p.m. and the convention will get underway at 7 p.m.
Both conventions are open to the public, but only county delegates may vote.
Tooele County Republicans have four intra-party contests to consider at their convention.
Republicans Mitch Hall, Lake Point, and Tom Tripp, Grantsville, are running for County Commission Seat A.
Three Republicans are seeking the nomination for County Commission Seat B. The contenders are Brenda Faddis, Stansbury Park; Todd Stewart, Grantsville; and Kendall Thomas, Stockton.
Tracey Marz, Erda, and Alison McCoy, Tooele, are both seeking the Republican nomination for county auditor.
Dean Adams has mounted a challenge to take the Republican nomination for county sheriff from incumbent Paul Wimmer.
Republican County Attorney Scott Broadhead and Clerk Marilyn Gillette are both running with no opposition from any party for re-election.
Of the four contested Republican races, only one —the race for county auditor— has the definite potential of being decided at the county convention.
Senate Bill 54, often referred to as the Count My Vote compromise, offers a dual route for candidates to get to a party’s primary ballot. Candidates may use the traditional caucus/convention route, collect signatures from voter’s affiliated with the party, or both.
Neither Marz nor McCoy collected signatures on a petition, which means if one of them is successful at getting 60 percent of the delegates’ votes, that candidate will proceed to the general election without a primary. Otherwise, Republican voters will choose between the two auditor candidates in a primary.
In the race for County Commission Seat A, Tripp has gathered petition signatures, so even if Hall gets at least 60 percent of the delegates’ votes, the two candidates will still face each other in a primary election.
For the County Commission Seat B race, Kendall Thomas has already collected enough signatures to put his name on the Republican primary ballot. Unless the convention picks Thomas as their candidate, a primary race for County Commission Seat B is a sure thing.
Both Republican county sheriff candidates, Adams and Wimmer have collected enough signatures to advance to the Republican primary, where the next Tooele Sheriff will be chosen. There is no sheriff candidate from any other party.
The Democratic Party will have little easier convention. They have no candidate for County Commission Seat A, one candidate for County Commission Seat B, and one candidate for county auditor.
The Democratic Convention is tonight at 6 p.m. at the Tooele City Hall, 90 N. Main Street. The Republican Convention is Friday, April 13 at 6 p.m. at the Utah Firefighters Museum at the Deseret Peak Complex, 2930 W. Highway 112.