The Republican Supermajority Needs to Learn: Power Lies with the Voters, not Power-Hungry Politicians

Salt Lake City, August 20, 2024 - Utah Democratic Party Chair Diane Lewis released the following statement today: 

“The Republican Supermajority in the Utah Legislature have insatiably seized power for themselves for years. They usurped the role of the Executive Branch by passing a law giving the Legislature the ability to call itself into Special Session. They seized control of the voters’ power by unconstitutionally replacing fair congressional maps with their own gerrymandered districts. Once again, the Republican Supermajority is seizing power from voters, all because the Utah Supreme Court stated the obvious: power lies with the voters, not with power-hungry politicians. 

The Republican Supermajority is going to extreme lengths to seize power for themselves because they know that Utah is changing. As the fastest growing state and the youngest state in The Union, Utah is positioned to become a swing state in a decade - but rather than allow the voters to decide Utah’s future for themselves, power-hungry politicians are dead-set on propping themselves up. 

 The framers of our State Constitution created the ballot initiative process as a way for everyday Utahns to check the power of the Legislature. Now, the Supermajority is trying to trick Utahns into changing our state constitution so Republicans can hold onto power. If the Republican Supermajority succeeds in putting their anti-Utahn constitutional amendment on the ballot this November, Utahns must turn out to defeat it. We cannot let power-hungry politicians take away our ability to hold them accountable.” 

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For more information, contact Mason Hughes at press@utdem.org or +1 (801) 830-0645.

The Utah Democratic Party is the face and voice of Democrats in the State of Utah. We believe that Utahns deserve strong, competent leadership that puts the people and democracy first.