Alixel Cabrera, Utah News Dispatch

The demonization of both the word climate on one of the political spectrum and fossil fuels on the other were front and center of the Conservative Climate Summit.

After showing pictures of sunsets on the southeastern portion of the state with double rainbows and different orange hues, Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis, who hosted the event on Friday, reflected on the branding Republicans often get in the climate conversation — caring little about the Earth.

“Today we gather under the flag of conservatives to have a framed discussion about what role in time we have being good stewards over this Earth. And it’s that simple, no judgment, no debate about science, no shaming for driving a truck, no insisting that we destroy industry or our energy base,” Curtis said. “But rather a thoughtful discussion about making the most of what God has given us.”

Curtis’ work around climate change has drawn national attention. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in the House, which has 85 members and a potential future after his departure from Congress this year. And, he said, he hosts meetings at his home in which he invites “50 or 60 of the most far right-leaning people (he) could find in the state” to talk about climate.

“I personally believe the climate is changing, and that man has an influence on it. But I don’t use that as a litmus test. How did I get 85 people to join the Conservative Climate Caucus? It wasn’t with a litmus test,” he said. “If you take people where they are, you will find they feel comfortable talking about this.”

People don’t have to give up their conservative credentials to be good at this conversation, Curtis said. And while those on the left should stop demonizing coal in order to open space for debate, far right-leaning people also need to give in a little, he said, because if they’re not at the climate table, they have zero influence on policy.

“‘It’s a hoax’ is not a thoughtful conversation,” Curtis said.

Also, in Curtis’ view, while clean energy is important, so is its affordability and reliability. Resources that check all of those boxes are what the market is demanding, and what he believes will dominate in a future that’s in need of more energy with new industries such as artificial intelligence and data centers.

His colleagues from the U.S. House, Republican Reps. Celeste Maloy and Blake Moore, joined him in a panel where they shared similar views to Curtis’.

“If conservatives just stay out of the conversation, it’s not going to be balanced,” Maloy said, commending initiatives to breach the gap between the two major parties. “And what it’s going to take for all of us to survive on this planet is innovation.”

Moore recognized some points of common ground between Democrats and Republicans. He, for example, voted against the establishment of the Inflation Reduction Act, but he sees positive aspects of it, like the tax incentive for nuclear facilities.

“We should be somewhat focused on reducing deficits, which we need to be doing. But there will be energy decisions to be made (to make a 50-year energy plan),” Moore said.

What’s at stake in the transformation of the energy market, Curtis said, is the country’s position as a world leader in energy.

“This innovation is going to happen. We have to decide if we want it to come from the United States or if we’re OK with it coming from China or other places in the world,” Curtis said.

Project 2025 criticism

One of the speakers on Friday was Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to former President Donald Trump and vice president of a national security institute at the Heritage Foundation, which created Project 2025, a policy agenda for a new conservative president.

“I proudly participated in the mandate for leadership on Project 2025, on the energy panel, so writing that chapter, which I strongly recommend to you,” Coates said on Friday about the plan to reconfigure the Department of Energy, making significant office cuts. “It is merely common-sense policies that I think would make a stronger America. And no, we are not attempting to subvert the Republic.”

Democratic candidate Caroline Gleich, who is challenging Curtis in the U.S. Senate race, said in a statement that the summit featuring oil and gas industry officials and Coates “is nothing more than a distraction orchestrated by the fossil fuel industry to delay, distract and hide their destructive impact on our health and climate.”

“Utah doesn’t need more empty talk; we need leadership that delivers. While in Congress, Rep. Curtis voted against environmental protections time and time again,” Gleich wrote, “earning a worse environmental voting record than even Senator Mike Lee.”

Curtis defended the invitation, arguing that oil executives and conservative think tanks have “moved on” while politicians were behind, feeling like they had to defend fossil fuels.

“When Heritage came to my office four years ago, sat on my couch,” Curtis said, “I asked them if climate was changing and man was influencing it. And they said, ‘yes.’”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and X.

A group of Kamala Harris supporters convened in a virtual call Tuesday evening. It was an eclectic mix with attorneys, lawmakers, podcasters, singers and a mayor. There were, certainly, Democrats on the speaker lists, but also Republicans who have decided to step away from their party’s ticket this year.

What connected all of them? Their Latter-day Saint faith.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may be a substantial force in presidential outcomes in deeply red Utah and battleground Arizona, according to speakers, including Mayor of Mesa, Arizona, John Giles, who is Republican, but is a vocal Harris supporter; former Democratic U.S. representative from Utah Ben McAdams; and Salt Lake City Democratic legislators Sen. Luz Escamilla and Rep. Brian King, the latter also being the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Utah.

Data shows that Latter-day Saints are poised to support Harris “more than any other presidential Democratic ticket in 60 years,” said Jacob Rugh, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at church-run Brigham Young University, during the call. He cited his research and past races that have moved the needle left in Utah and Maricopa County in Arizona.

“My geospatial analysis shows that areas heavy with LDS chapels in the east valley were most likely to flip blue (in 2020),” Rugh said on Tuesday. Nationwide, in 2020, 1 in 3 Latter-day Saint voters picked the Biden-Harris ticket, and the majority of the faith’s millennial and Gen Z voters chose the Democratic ticket, according to Rugh.

The 2020 Biden-Harris ticket performance in Utah “was the best of any Democratic ticket since 1964. Salt Lake County flipped blue in 2016 and, in 2020, voters did what others said was impossible by flipping four precincts blue in Provo,” Rugh said. He predicts they “will flip even more in 2024.”

There are 2.1 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah, according to data from the church. It’s the most prominent faith in Utah, which has historically voted red. There are also more than 442,800 members in Arizona.

About 1,400 people tuned into Tuesday’s call, a first from a group called Latter-day Saints for Harris-Walz, which on its social media boasted of as many as 2,600 registrants. The event came the same day Harris announced she had picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

The remarks from presenters, mostly from Utah and Arizona, were preceded by a prayer. Speakers also cited scripture as they spoke about the character of the Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, and to explain why, in their view, the most Latter-day Saint-aligned candidate is Harris.

Mostly, it was a discussion on how to organize to elect Harris. After all, Rob Taber, an organizer said, Latter-day Saints “from missions and ministering, (are) pretty good at reaching out to people and building bridges.”

However, Taber also advised those on the call not to use ward or stake membership lists when reaching out to people because that violates the church’s neutrality policy.

“But you can share on social media how you’re feeling. This actually does make a big difference,” Taber said.

‘Examine the character’

Ask Mesa Mayor John Giles why he decided to support a Democratic candidate and he may cite the arguments he made in an op-ed he wrote in Arizona Central criticizing Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome of the 2020 election and his disinvestment in cities like Mesa, and where he called on other Arizona Republicans to choose “country over party this election.”

But, he may also mention an admonition he heard at a Latter-day Saint church meeting that encouraged members to be good citizens, to participate in elections and to “examine the character of the candidates.”

“Man, I sincerely hope that we get that admonition this election season, because I think that would help our brothers and sisters to look with fresh eyes at this election,” Giles said on Tuesday.

Giles also cited the church’s stance on defending the U.S. Constitution and how different that perspective is from Trump’s view, he said.

Trump is “more than willing to compromise the rule of law and the United States Constitution to further his own gains,” Giles said. “I think that we have a particular mission as Latter-day Saints to step up and point those things out to our friends inside the church and outside as well.”

Some of the attendees, such as McAdams, said they vote Democrat “not in spite of our religion, but because of our religion,” arguing that “negativity, divisiveness, rage, political violence, discrimination and racism are not of God.”

Utah Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla said that, as she was preparing to teach Sunday School, it was clear to her that Trump may not be aligned with Latter-day Saint doctrine. She quoted Elder Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the church’s First Presidency.

“He said ‘knowing that we are all children of God, give us a divine vision of the worth of all others and the will and ability to rise above prejudice and racism.’ The current candidate for the Republican Party is literally working tirelessly to create prejudice and racism against Americans,” Escamilla said. “And that alone is a reason why all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be supporting Vice President Harris for President of the United States in the 2024 election cycle.”

Utah gubernatorial candidate Rep. Brian King also praised Harris’ running mate, arguing that Walz fits into the model he likes to see in the country’s candidates and elected officials.

“He’s the kind of candidate that leaders of our faith have called for us to support, a person of integrity, compassion, with a commitment to service,” King said. “I’m so glad that Vice President Harris has revealed her own personality so clearly in her choice of running mate.”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and X.

In the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, a social media post from Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill drew ire from prominent figures in Utah’s political scene.

“Truly, a dead body is more competent than Trump to be President,” Gill wrote in a July 20 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It would do exponentially less harm to our democratic republic and honor our ideals more.”

Gill’s post came a week after the shooting at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally that left former President Trump with a bleeding ear, attracting uproar from Gov. Spencer Cox, who called the comment “disgusting” and “a new low,” and Republican lawmakers, who argued the opinion was a reflection of his character.

One of Utah’s top GOP legislative leaders, Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper called for his resignation and others brought up a new law — scheduled to become effective in July, 2025 — that targets the Salt Lake County District Attorney by requiring Gill to track time spent on criminal cases. The bill also lays out a process to potentially unseat Gill by allowing the governor to recommend a “replacement prosecutor” to the Utah Supreme Court if he finds the district attorney has “failed to prosecute crimes adequately.”

The Salt Lake County district attorney is an elected position chosen by Salt Lake County voters. At the time of the bill’s passage, Cox said the provision of the bill that grants him and the Utah Supreme Court such power would be language “we’ll certainly be looking at over the course of the year.”

“That’s a responsibility that I would take very seriously,” the governor said at the time, adding, “I believe elections have consequences. And so just because I disagree or don’t like what someone else is doing, that’s not grounds for recommending a replacement. That would only be used in the case of corruption or something that is more than just political.”

Angered by the social media post, Schultz said Gill had done “irreparable damage to the justice system” and “paints a dire picture of a politicized judicial system” in Salt Lake County.

“The toxic and hate-filled partisanship Sim Gill demonstrated in his post about the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, makes rational people question Sim Gill’s ability to fairly execute his duties to the people of Salt Lake County,” Schultz wrote in a post on X.

Schultz had a different stance when another controversy involving social media happened during the 2024 legislative session, when embattled school board member, Natalie Cline made a post incorrectly suggesting a female high school basketball player was transgender.

While the Legislature voted to censure Cline, both Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams wouldn’t go as far as calling for her resignation, arguing that she had to resign for herself, and if not, voters should decide her fate.

In Gill’s case, Schulz argued there have been allegations against the District Attorney’s office, for “cherry-picking prosecution and criminal charges, based on Sim Gill’s extreme partisanship.”

The day after Gill’s post, the district attorney made a clarification on X, writing that his words were misconstrued. His point, he wrote, was that there is more thought on an inanimate object than in Trump.

“We are so blind to the harm we are doing to the foundations of our Republic that inanimate objects would serve the interests of this country more,” Gill said in a statement.

Earlier this year, when Republican lawmakers put their crosshairs on Gill and his office with SB273, Democrats called it a political attack, and Gill said it created an “undue burden” which would compound issues in an already short-staffed and underfunded office. He also questioned whether lawmakers would devote funding to jail beds and to fix “our broken mental health system, affordable housing.”

Utah governor signs bill requiring Salt Lake County DA to track time spent on criminal cases

Gill’s July 20 social media post was a poor choice of words, House Minority Leader Rep Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, told Utah News Dispatch on Thursday, also pointing to Gill’s clarification. However, she said she has an issue with not holding other elected officials accountable for other problematic posts that “dehumanize people,” including Cline’s.

“Like they told us, let the people decide on Natalie Cline, and the delegates decided not to have her as their nominee,” Romero said. “The people of Salt Lake County elected Sim Gill, not people in Davis County, not people in Summit County, or other counties where many of my colleagues live. That’s the choice people made.”

Though Schultz didn’t directly mention SB273, his post questioned Gill’s performance as district attorney, something that the bill intends to measure.

Rep. Kera Birkeland, who introduced the last-hour changes to SB273 laying out the process to potentially unseat a Salt Lake County district attorney, said “it’s time to move forward” with the bill in a social media post.

“We have a sufficient amount of victims, all ready to testify about (Gill’s) lack of prosecuting violent criminals. It’s clear he has a bias and victims of violent crimes have been hurting from it for years,” Birkeland wrote on X. “This recent post truly exposes his character.”

However, Romero, who opposed the bill, said she believes SB273 was politically motivated, and that other district attorneys should be held to the same standard as Gill.

“When you don’t do that, you look like you’re targeting someone,” Romero said. “And then people can read between the lines and assume it’s because of party affiliation or because you don’t agree with this person’s policy stance.”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and X.

A judge decided on Friday that Phil Lyman’s first running mate choice doesn’t meet the Utah Constitution’s residency requirements to be eligible for the office of lieutenant governor.

This is the end of the brief legal fight against the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which oversees the state’s elections, to include Bangerter on the primary ballot, Lyman said. He’ll find a new running mate by noon on Monday, to meet the state’s new deadline for the primary ballot, he told reporters after the judge announced his decision.

Utah’s primary election stage is set: Lyman vs. Cox, the race for Romney’s seat and more

Utah law says that a candidate for that office must be a state resident for five years “next preceding” the election. The court was tasked with determining how to interpret the term “next preceding,” as Bangerter, a former Donald Trump administrator and campaign director, had lived in Utah for many years throughout his lifetime, but was a resident of Idaho in 2021.

Third District Court Judge Matthew Bates decided in a West Jordan court room that previous Utah Supreme Court decisions had ruled that “next preceding” meant “immediately before” the election, so Bangerter didn’t meet the election criteria. He also denied the restraining order filed by Lyman, who won the Utah Republican Party’s nomination during the state GOP convention last week.

“Layne would have been a huge asset to the state of Utah. It’s really unfortunate. And we didn’t go into this flippantly. We looked at the language, obviously, there (were) lots of arguments for and against, and the fact that it came out against us, we take that we take the judge’s (decision),” Lyman told reporters. “It’s very disappointing for me, personally, that Layne won’t be my running mate.”

Bangerter agreed and said that while the judge’s decision was disappointing, they’ll abide by it and move forward.

“It is what it is,” Bangerter said.

Judge decision shuts down ‘election interference’ claims

The interpretation of the “next preceding” term solved the conflict of whether the Lieutenant Governor’s Office acted lawfully while not allowing Bangerter to file his candidacy.

The issue, Lyman’s attorney argued, was about “election interference” and whether the interpretation of the law would prompt a delay that could cost Lyman the primary election. But, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office argued that including Bangerter’s name in the ballot would go against the law.

Rep. Phil Lyman’s running mate not eligible for gubernatorial ticket, election officials say

According to Chad Shattuck, an attorney representing Bangerter and Lyman, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office didn’t take the necessary steps when Bangerter tried to file his candidacy. A clerk refused to read the constitution regulation and take his oath, Shattuck said.

Shattuck also cited controversy around Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy’s 2023 candidacy because she wasn’t an active registered voter in Utah at the time she filed to run, and her candidacy was accepted.

“Utah code doesn’t create a gatekeeping role for the Lieutenant Governor Office,” he said.

However, Daniel Widdison, an attorney representing the Lieutenant Governor Office, argued the main difference between both cases was that Maloy’s eligibility concerns were part of the Republican Party bylaws, not something the lieutenant governor had to resolve.

Widdison added that the office could either contest the candidacy after filing or not accept it if the clerk was aware of ineligibility in advance.

“The court is being asked to tell our constitutional officers and other sworn officers to ignore the oath that they took to enforce and uphold the Constitution,” Widdison said, “in order to accommodate this specific candidate who sadly doesn’t qualify.”

Ultimately, the judge said he had no choice but to conclude that Bangerter wasn’t eligible to serve as lieutenant governor.

“I have great respect for the cherished institutions that we have to vote for elected officials, and to run for elected office. But I run up against the Constitution of the State of Utah, which declares that no person is eligible to be lieutenant governor unless they have been a resident citizen of the state for five years next preceding the election,” Bates said, “which clearly meant, at the time of the ratification of the Constitution, the five years immediately before that election.”

After the decision, Lyman said his team believed Bangerter’s candidacy would be legitimate.

“It’s interesting. And I do feel like it’s a little bit of selective application of the law, because we’ve seen other cases where candidates kind of were allowed to go all through the process before they were challenged on this,” Lyman said, “and this should have happened on this application.”

Lyman will continue his campaign with a new running mate. He said he hopes this case helps clarify other requirements, perhaps with new legislation.

“This shows with the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, there are a lot of deficiencies on their forms, a lot of ambiguity, a lot of ambiguity from the legislative side of it,” Lyman said. “(It helped) to give clear language that didn’t exist in this case. So I think this helped to clarify and we’ll move forward with that.”

Political reactions

After the news of the court decision, Brian King, the Democratic Party nominee for the governor’s race, said the lawsuit — and Lyman’s candidacy as a whole — was a product “chaos” that results from validating “the most extreme elements of the Utah Legislature.”

King also attacked Cox, accusing him of being “complicit in this chaos” by supporting “bills with short-sighted policies that hurt the most vulnerable and cheerleads culture war lawsuits, all to score political points and appease his base.”

In response to King’s attack, Matt Lusty, a spokesperson for Cox’s campaign, said that the governor is proud to support conservative policies, such as school choice, pro-life initiatives and tax cuts.

“The Governor appreciates the broad support he has from everyday Republicans across the state,” Lusty wrote. “A recent Morning Consult polling showed the Governor with 69% approval and only 19% disapproval among all Republican voters.”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.