CACHE COUNTY – Local candidate Bryon Behm scored a double victory at the Cache County Republican Nominating Convention on April 13.
Not only did Behm win the special election to replace former County Clerk/Auditor David Benson for the rest of his unexpired term, he also snagged the GOP nod to run for re-election in November 2024 – all by default.
Behm captured the Republic nomination for the general election when declared candidate Sebastian Luu withdrew from the race on the eve of the GOP convention. A candidate who was always considered “iffy” by most observers, Luu wisely bowed to the inevitable on April 12 with a phone call to County GOP Chair Geoff Cox.
After being blown out in earlier balloting in the race to fill the new independent Cache County auditor position, rival Dirk Anderson withdrew his candidacy at the convention’s podium, leaving Behm the last man standing.
Behm happily turned his planned campaign pitch to county delegates into an impromptu victory speech.
In his remarks, Behm promised a return to “status quo boredom” in the handling of upcoming elections by the Clerk’s Office, meaning balloting without recounts or the office of Utah’s lieutenant governor micromanaging the county’s every move.
Those pledges — obvious references to the troubled municipal election of 2023 — played well with the county GOP delegates who endorsed Behm’s candidacy by acclamation.
Behm had been the chief deputy and election supervisor in the administration of former Clerk/Auditor Jess Bradfield, who resigned in June of 2023.
“I’m the only one in the race that has done a presidential election, a municipal election and a mid-term election,” Behm explains. “So I understand all the intricacies of the role and I’m the only one ready and willing to do it right now.”
Prior to wining the GOP nomination in November, Behm had already acknowledged that he would have to recuse himself from that voting process. Even if he can’t touch those ballots, however, Behm says he can still supervise clerk’s office personnel as they perform Election Day duties.
In October of 2023, the Cache County Council voted to split the responsibilities of the Clerk/Auditors office, an elective post that has been combined for a decade.