ST. GEORGE — A State Senate race going to primary and the county party chair imploring party members to behave with kindness in their political lives were among the highlights of the Washington County Republican Party’s nominating convention held Saturday at Hurricane High School.

Numerous state and federal-level candidates also appeared at the county convention, which pleased county Republican Party chair Lesa Sandberg.

“They know that (Washington County) is influential, and they know they need to be here and earn our vote,” she said.

Among the state and federal races represented at the convention were the U.S. Senate race, Utah’s 2nd Congressional District race, the governor’s race, the attorney general’s race, the state auditor’s race, the state treasurer’s race and the race for District 15 of the Utah School Board.

Senate District 29 goes to primary

While the majority of county and legislative-based races in Washington County are uncontested within the party, that is not the case for Senate District 29 this year. Held by incumbent Sen. Don Ipson, he faced challengers Cory Green and Chad Bennion.

Of the three, Bennion came out on top with 52% of the delegate vote in the first round and 58% in the second round. Ipson gained 42% of the vote in both the first and second rounds, while Green was eliminated from the race after taking 2% of the vote.

The threshold to secure the party nomination is 70%. With neither Bennion or Ipson achieving that amount, they will now go on to a primary election on June 25.

The event was held in an auditorium at Hurricane High School. The candidates were each given three minutes to speak before the first round of voting commenced.

Bennion went first and was accompanied by a small army of supporters wearing Bennion campaign shirts. He said he aimed to differentiate himself from the incumbent by highlighting points he said Ipson supported.

Among these items were the removal of “Dixie” from what is now Utah Tech University, providing insurance for the children of illegal migrants and 2014’s SB 54 law. The latter allows candidates to bypass the caucus-convention system and get their names on the primary ballot if they gain enough signatures.

Ipson touted his seniority and experience in the Legislature after a combined 15 years in the Utah House and Senate. He is also one of two Southern Utah senators in leadership positions in the Senate, as the vice chair of the Senate’s Executive Appropriations Committee. He said he would be able to retain this position if reelected.

The candidates’ response to the primary

“The 70% is a big threshold and I was unable to accomplish that,” Ipson said, adding that the outcome was not unexpected. “’I’m looking forward to going to primary.”

Ipson once more reiterated his seniority and leadership position in the Legislature and the good he said he has been able to do for Washington County. He said he was the “driving force” behind getting the Utah Department of Public Safety to base a helicopter in Southern Utah. Designated as “Star 9,” the helicopter has seen continuous use in police and search and rescue-related operations throughout the county and surrounding region.

If elected, Ipson said this would be his final term in office, which would have lasted 20 years by the end of that term.

“With (Ipson) being a longtime incumbent, I think this was pretty likely,” Bennion said of the primary results. “It was a great day to come out on top and also by such a large margin.”

If the name Chad Bennion sounds familiar to those familiar with the Legislature, it is because he previously served three terms in the Utah House. During that time, he sat on various House committees, including the Judiciary Committee and the Commerce and Revenue Appropriations Subcommittee. He was also the vice chair of the rules committee for one of his terms.

Others may remember Bennion from an incident in early 2017, where he was initially reported missing in Southern Utah over the New Year’s Day weekend. At the time, he had taken his SUV into the county’s backcountry and gotten stuck in the mud in a slot canyon until a passerby came across the former legislator and helped him return to civilization.

The chair’s request for civility

While giving a report to the convention as a party officer and speaking to St. George News afterward, Sandberg said she felt the ongoing invitation from the party to others to “come caucus with us” was being damaged by the uncivil behavior of some party members.

She recounted the experience of a friend who took his 17-year-old daughter to a caucus meeting, who she said had a less-than-promising experience as delegates became heated and verbally attacked each other.

“People were rude,” she said. “It wasn’t just heated — people said things that were derogatory and rude — and it made her feel like she didn’t belong there.”

On the drive back from the caucus meeting, Sandberg said the teenager told her father that he had taught her to love people as a Christian and behave accordingly, yet here were people who professed to be Christian themselves but did not act the part when it came to politics.

“We need our Christian lives to reflect in our political lives,” she said. “People don’t want to be around us if we’re angry and not promoting our message in a positive way.”

Proposed bylaw amendment and straw poll

An amendment was proposed to take the 70% vote threshold for party nomination down to 60%.

Arguments for the amendment were that the high threshold likely prompted candidates to take the signature route as a backup or skip the caucus-convention system entirely. The high threshold would likely, more often than not, result in a plurality of primary candidates instead of the majority of party delegates (albeit less than 70%) wanted.

Despite attempts to pass the amendment, it ultimately failed.

“Our job is to nominate candidates, not elect candidates,” Sandberg said. “That’s the voters’ job.”

The convention had nominated two candidates to go to primary in the case of the Senate 29 race where the voters will decide who they want the Republican candidate to be, she added.

In a Republican-majority area like Washington County, it is not uncommon for many local and legislative races to go unchallenged within the party or in general. Due to this, a primary election can tend to be seen as the election that secures the candidate’s position with the November election becoming more of a formality.

A straw poll was held at the start of the county convention that asked who delegates would vote for at the state’s Republican Convention was held that day. The results were shared at the end of the convention and shown below:

Photo Gallery

Nearly 600 delegates of the Washington County Republican Party gathered at Hurricane High School for the party’s nominating convention, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Washington County Republican Party Chair Lesa Sandberg outlines what she feels the missing from the county party during the party’s nominating convention in Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Incumbent Sen. Don Ipson gives a short speech to delegates at the Washington County Republican Party during the party’s nominating convention, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Nearly 600 delegates of the Washington County Republican Party gathered at Hurricane High School for the party’s nominating convention, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Washington County Republican Party Chair Lesa Sandberg speaks to St. George News about her hope that party members can be more civil in their political lives and not drive people away because of heated and uncivil discourse, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Senate 29 candidate Chad Bennion speaks to St. George News about going into a primary against incumbent Sen. Don Ipson following the conclusion of the Washington County Republican Party’s nominating convention, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Flanked by a small army of supporters, Senate District 29 candidate Chad Bennion gives a short speech to delegates at the Washington County Republican Party during the party’s nominating convention, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Nearly 600 delegates of the Washington County Republican Party gathered at Hurricane High School for the party’s nominating convention, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Incumbent Sen. Don Ipson (far left) watches a speech given at the Washington County Republican Party during the party’s nominating convention, Hurricane, Utah, March 23, 2024 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

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