Monday, February 04, 2008

Herbert Aide to Jump?

One of the Utah public servants who have a hand in disseminating, interpreting and enforcing Utah election laws may soon choose to be subject to them instead.

Joseph Demma, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert's chief of staff, confirmed today that he has been in discussions with Salt Lake County Republican officials about running for the Legislature against Democratic Rep. Roz McGee in Salt Lake City's District 28.

Demma says its too early to make a firm decision, but he has expressed interest and had discussions about it. As the lieutenant governor's chief of staff, he often has been the point man in explaining election laws to the media and the public and was often quoted during last year's contentious referendum election repealing the Legislature's voucher bill.

McGee is one of just 20 Democrats in the 75-member House of Representatives. But all six House members who represent Salt Lake City are Democrats.

2 Comments:

At 5:28 PM, redbluedish said...: Well, if history of that seat is any factor, I think that Joe would have quite a difficult time-- Roz is a well liked, well respected incumbent who fought off a serious challenge by a well financed aggressive Republican last election. I think she won it handily, too. And Jolley was man-handled by Ross Romero in that area...its just not fertile ground for a GOP challenge anymore. Look at how Dave Buhler did in those precincts...I think that would give you a pretty good indication of how much a well-liked, well-financed Republican could do there.

I woulnd't waste your political capital there, Joe. The avenues aren't the only Democrat strongholds anymore.
At 7:27 PM, Jeff James said...: As much as Tom Wright was well financed, he had a pretty nasty whisper campaign against him from his college days. Actually, if you look at the vote, Roz won the same number of votes last time that she won the time before. Republicans simply didn't show up. McGee is not a consensus choice for the area.

Don't discount the Republican's chances there. Demma is not a known factor, but unlike Thom Wright, Demma is not a native to the district with a well-known history. Being able to make your own name is a valuable commodity in this fickle, interesting neighborhood.

Post a Comment

<< Home

Paul Rolly grew up in Salt Lake City, graduating from Skyline High School and earning a B.S. in political science at the University of Utah. He began working at The Salt Lake Tribune in 1973 as a copy boy. He worked his way up the ladder, covering police, local government, community affairs and business. He left The Tribune in 1982 to work for United Press International where he was the Utah political reporter and later Salt Lake City bureau chief. He returned to the Tribune in 1985, covering the Utah Legislature and later, taking over as business editor. He began the Rolly&Wells column in 2001 with JoAnn Wells and continues the column alone since her retirement. He also writes a political column that runs in The Tribune's Sunday opinion section. He is married to Dawn House, a reporter at The Tribune.

Comment Disclaimer

The Salt Lake Tribune does not regulate or approve reader comments on blogs. Commenters should avoid offensive and defamatory language and keep comments on-topic. Users are encouraged to notify The Tribune of comments that do not adhere to these guidelines. E-mail us at webmaster@sltrib.com with the headline of the blog where the comment is posted. Persistent offenders may be blocked from posting.