A proposed change in the Utah GOP’s governing documents would essentially cut the state’s Congressional delegation out of the party’s Executive Committee while giving more power to the hardliner-dominated Central Committee.
The proposed constitutional amendment increases the number of representatives on the Executive Committee from each congressional district from two to three. Those members are elected by the State Central Committee, which is controlled by the hardline “Gang of 51.”
At the same time, the proposal mutes the voice of Utah’s six members of Congress on the Executive Committee by eliminating their ability to send a voting proxy in their stead to meetings when they can’t attend. If the measure wins approval, they could only send a non-voting proxy to meetings. That means, unless the members of Congress want to fly back to Utah for Executive Committee meetings, they won’t get a vote. The likelihood of that happening is very remote.
The proposed amendment also brings the chair of the Data and Software Management Committee onto the executive body. That would give the Central Committee control over 17 of the members of the EC. Right now the SCC elects or appoints 12 members. Eliminating the proxy vote for the six members of Congress would drop the number of EC members who are essentially independent of the SCC from 13 to 7, giving the SCC a commanding 17-7 majority on the EC.
The change would mostly be a symbolic one to expand the power of the Central Committee over the rest of the party. The Executive Committee can only make recommendations, but the new balance would decidedly favor the hardliners on the Central Committee.
