SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Democratic Party says it is not only pleased with the outcome of the Nov. 5 general election statewide, but is also looking forward to the next go-around in 2026.
“As the election results are now finalized, it is clear that Utah resisted a nationwide shift to the right,” wrote UDP Chair Diane Lewis and Vice-Chair Oscar Mata in a prepared statement released Nov. 20.
“Despite high Republican turnout and thousands of dollars spent by outside organizations to benefit Republican candidates,” they added, “Democrats prevented Republicans from netting any (additional) seats in the State Legislature here.”
The UDP apparently considers preserving the local status quo as a victory in the face of drastic reversals suffered by their fellow Democrats nationwide.
But Lewis and Mata are banking on a different outcome in the next statewide election, thanks to a recent ruling by the Utah Supreme Court overturning the partisan voting district boundaries drawn by the GOP majority in the Legislature in 2021.
“When our state has fair (voting district) maps,” they argue, “Democrats will be ready to break the Republican super-majority (in the Legislature).”
In July, Utah Supreme Court reversed a district court’s decision to dismiss part of the lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters and other plaintiffs that argued that the Utah Legislature violated Utahns’ constitutional right to alter and reform their government when lawmakers repealed and replaced Proposition 4, the citizen-driven ballot initiative to enact an independent commission to draw Utah’s new voting boundaries.
While that July decision represents a win for plaintiffs in that case, that victory is limited, given that the ruling merely sends their case back to the district court for a trial.
Meanwhile, political pundits and their allies in the legacy media are still stunned by the massive red wave that swept the nation on Nov. 5.
That political movement not only sent former President Donald Trump back to the White House, it also captured majorities in both houses of Congress and cleanly collected victories in all seven critical swing states in the election.
But the UDP is still savoring its local wins, calling them “incredible victories.”
Among those are Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson’s win, despite the Republicans investing more than $300,000 in the effort to replace her; Democrat Natalie Pinkney becoming the first African-American woman to be elected to the Salt Lake County Council; and Sheila Srivastava flipping the Salt Lake County treasurer’s office to the Democrats.
Also in the Democratic win column are Jake Fitisemanu and Veron Mauga as the first Samoan-Americans elected to the Utah Legislature.
The Democrats also won every position up for election this year in Summit County.
“The Utah Democratic Party owes a debt of gratitude to all Democrats who ran for office,” according to Lewis and Mata. “Their hard work has helped build party infrastructure, recruit volunteers and raise important issues.”
The UDP pair also issued their ritual condemnation of the so-called Republican super-majority for failing to lower the cost of housing or groceries, for underfunding public education and threatening the lives and freedom of Utah’s women and the LGBIQ+ community.