Pricey Presidential Primary Less of a Boon to Utah

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) When Utah lawmakers decided to spend $3.5 million on a presidential primary in February, they believed it would force candidates to take note of Beehive State voters and issues.

Now nearly 40 other states are poised to hold primaries at the same time, making the benefits of Utah's early election doubtful. Still, Senate President John Valentine says it's worth the money.

"I think the likelihood of candidates coming to Utah has been diminished with the number of states that have come onto that date," says Valentine. "But being one of the first ones on was helpful, because we have had visits from candidates we would not have otherwise had."

John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and most recently, John Edwards have all visited Utah for fundraising events. Even though Utah will now be lumped with dozens of other states holding elections on February 5th, Valentine is happy Utahns will cast their votes before party nominations are virtually decided.

Elections policy analyst Jennie Drage Bowser of the National Conference of State Legislatures says the new "Super Duper Tuesday" is unprecedented and will require candidates to adapt.

"It probably makes it a lot more expensive and I think we're probably going to see a lot more TV campaigning," says Drage Bowser. "There's just no way for candidates to reach out to voters in potentially 39 states (and the District of Columbia) on the same day, in person."

When Utah lawmakers first began planning a February presidential primary several years ago, they estimated it would cost $850,000. But electronic voting machines quadrupled that figure. The Legislature has already allocated the funds.

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