People vote at the Main Library in Salt Lake City on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Photo: Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch

Voting in Republican primaries isn’t effective, the party said, and Republicans agree

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The accounts of people who align with Democratic party values but register as Republicans are frequent in deep red Utah, where many elections are decided in Republican primaries. Now, Utah Democratic Party chair Brian King is calling them to drop that way of thinking and to “come home.”

The practice isn’t effective “in the face of extremism and one-party control,” and having Democratic input in Republican spaces isn’t making a substantial difference, King argued in a news release Thursday.

“We all know many Democrats who register as Republicans to try to mitigate the harshness and extremity of the majority party. I understand the temptation,” King said in a statement. “But I grow more convinced that if that was ever effective, it no longer is. Even relatively moderate and principled Republicans, with few exceptions, end up enabling and facilitating Trump and his allies’ authoritarian efforts.”

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What do numbers show?

Republicans hold closed primaries while Democrats allow any voters, regardless of party affiliation, to weigh in their primaries. However, at least during the 2024 statewide primary elections, statistics don’t show widespread “party raiding.”

A total of 26,715 Utah voters changed party affiliations between Jan. 9 and Aug. 8. Of those, 13,234 changed to unaffiliated, about 5,300 switched to Republican and 3,456 to Democrat, according to Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson.

The state’s Elections Office indicates that out of 1.7 million active voters, 921,750 are registered Republicans, a 0.9% increase from the registration this time last year, when the office counted 913,176.

The number of active Republican voters in the state went up to 953,373 in November, close to the general election and reached a peak of 958,668 in early December before going back to current levels.

The number of active registered Democrats in the state went slightly down from 239,584 in September of 2024 to 238,498 this year. But, like in the Republican party, Democrats saw increases in registration numbers around November, reaching a peak of 257,153 people before returning to the latest number.

Republicans welcome the call

King argued that augmenting Republican membership numbers “weakens the (Democratic) party’s legitimacy and strength,” while providing cover to the GOP.

“Republicans point to registration numbers as justification to ignore Utahns who disagree with them,” King said in the release. “It’s time to take that excuse away.”

In the past, The Utah Democratic Party has also urged those who align with their political views to make their Democratic affiliation official, since bigger numbers could drive larger donations supporting blue candidates in the state.

After King’s call was made public, Utah Republican Party Chair Rob Axson said he “wholeheartedly” agrees with the push.

“I think it’s wise for people to lean into the parties that they actually support and want to see successful,” Axson said. “So anybody who cares about the Republican Party and wants to affiliate with us and grow the party, we’d love to have them. We want them there. But, if your only purpose is to undermine a political party, then I’d encourage you to go and build in the party you actually care about.”

Especially, Axson said, since he doesn’t believe Democrats in the state have sufficient numbers to prevent the voices of “real Republicans” from being heard.

“Our party principles and platform are well-represented by our elected officials,” he said.“And so these folks that have come in to try to undermine our process, I think Brian was exactly correct when he says that it has not been effective.”

Those interested in changing their party affiliation can do it on the Utah Elections Office’s website.

Written by Alixel Cabrera for Utah News Dispatch