On Saturday, April 28, at 10:00 am, the United Utah Party held its State Convention at Midvale Middle School.
This was the second state convention for the party, which held its first convention to nominate Jim Bennett as the candidate in last year’s special congressional election in Utah’s Third District.
Bennett was the keynote speaker at this year’s convention, noting the differences between the first convention and the 2018 gathering.
“I was keenly aware that my campaign was important to the future of the party,” Bennett said. “And now, here we are a year later with nineteen credible candidates. This is the year when we start winning elections.”
Eric Eliason, UUP congressional nominee in the First District, and Jan Garbett, UUP Candidate in the Second District, each spoke at the convention, while Melanie McCoard, UUP Candidate in the Third Congressional District, shared a video message. Each emphasized the importance of reforming the system and moving beyond partisan gridlock.
Richard Davis, the United Utah Party chair, recounted the state of Utah’s opposition to the formation of the UUP last year. “It’s very clear they see us as a threat,” Davis said. “They know we are well under way toward becoming one of the two competitive parties in the state of Utah.”
All members of the party were delegates to the convention, and they unanimously nominated the congressional candidates and approved changes to the United Utah Party constitution establishing a process for modifying the party platform.
More information is available at unitedutah.org.
