The move to create publicly funded vouchers in Utah got shot down by voters last fall, but the political ramifications within the state may still be playing out in some very interesting ways.

Two Republicans are now running as Democrats for the state legislature in Utah County, the state’s second-most populous area just south of Salt Lake City. It’s also considered one of the most solidly Republican areas in one of the reddest states in the country. In a typical election, any Democrat who dares to run gets slaughtered, but this year they might be more competitive.

What’s going on out there?

Paul Rolly, a columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune, believes those two candidates might be part of a sea change in Utah politics related to the GOP-backed voucher legislation, which narrowly passed the state legislature but became a ballot referendum that was rejected by voters.

In a recent column, Rolly points to Steve Baugh, a former superintendent of the Alpine school district, who was registered as a Republican but is now running as a Democrat against Rep. Steve Sandstrom. Apparently, Baugh supported Sandstrom in the last cycle because he ran as an anti-voucher candidate against a man who had profited from a charter-school enterprise, but Sandstrom later voted in favor of the voucher legislation, which passed the House by one vote.

Then there’s Gwyn Franson, a city council member and Republican-turned-Democrat who Rolly says cited the voucher legislation as one piece of evidence in her argument that the GOP party has simply lost touch with the desires of its constituents. And there are likely other prominent Democrats that will run for the legislature this year, Rolly says.

Even if they win, does it really add up to a sea change for state politics? “If so, chalk it up to last year's tsunami over private school vouchers,” Rolly writes, but cautions, “whether it turns out to be a ripple or a flood remains to be seen.”

Yet another sideshow to watch in this wacky political year…

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor