Utah County GOP leaders say caucus, conventions ran smoothly and warn petition route favors well-funded campaigns

Charles Max Wood, vice chair of the Utah County Republican Party, and party chair Christy Henshaw were joined on the party’s podcast by Max Sims, the state party tech officer, to review the recent caucus and convention cycle and to explain how residents can take part before the June 23 primary.

“We had paper backups, so we were grateful,” Henshaw said, summarizing caucus night operations and crediting local teams for avoiding the registration and line problems reported in past cycles. Max Sims noted technological improvements and tracking tools that helped organizers understand turnout and operational gaps.

Sims said about 19,000 people preregistered for caucus night and roughly 16,000 were tracked through credentialing, though he cautioned some counties did not use the state check-in system, so the totals are incomplete. County convention attendance, he added, was high for those who showed up — around a 92% participation rate among attendees at the county level.

The hosts emphasized that many delegates were new to the system: Henshaw said a large share of delegates (she cited roughly 64% in one cycle) were first-time participants who attended trainings and meet-the-candidate events. The panel credited those outreach efforts — including an online precinct portal where people could declare interest in running for precinct offices before caucus night — with improving accessibility and helping voters make more informed choices.

The discussion shifted to the petition route onto the primary ballot, which the hosts said frequently advantages campaigns with substantial budgets. Wood gave historical figures for statewide petition efforts: he said 28,000 signatures were required for a governor’s petition in 2016 and that gathering those signatures cost about $154,000 in that cycle; he also cited a figure of about $147,000 for Spencer Cox’s 2024 petition. Other examples given on the podcast included a reported $334,000 spent by a candidate for senate (Brad Wilson) and $259,000 for another statewide campaign (Derek Brown). By contrast, a local senate candidate, Emily Lockhart, reported about $16,100 to gather roughly 2,000 signatures, while another candidate in that race (Garrett Camins) reported no spending on signatures.

“We’re at the bottom of all of this — it’s a money game,” Sims said, arguing that paid signature gathering can substitute for grassroots volunteer activity and does not necessarily reflect sustained voter support. The hosts also questioned whether signatures indicate genuine, informed backing, noting many people sign petitions to end a doorstep encounter.

Panelists urged anyone who wants to influence candidate selection to engage in local party activities: attend caucus, train as a delegate, join a Legislative Collaboration Committee (LCC), contact precinct or house chairs, or volunteer for campaigns. They pointed listeners to resources the party maintains: ucrp.org for lists of nominees selected by delegates, and precinctportal.org to see precinct officers, who won caucus night, and to request yard signs or volunteer for campaigns.

The podcast closed with reminders that ballots should arrive in early June and the primary election is scheduled for June 23; the hosts also plugged a May 30 “Bang the Drum” event at Warren State Park and asked listeners to contact precinct chairs or visit the party’s online tools for more information.

Note on legal references: speakers on the podcast referenced a Supreme Court principle equating money and speech when discussing petition costs but did not identify a specific case by name; that reference is reported here as described on the recording.