Rina Slade in February registered ahead of time to attend the Republican Party caucus Tuesday night.
Slade, a Canyons Village resident, said she never received a confirmation from the GOP with instructions for participation in the caucus, including the location. She understood the site to be Ecker Hill Middle School, though, and headed there for the gathering.
When she arrived, though, Slade said, the Summit County Republican Party was unable to find her registration. Slade said she registered at the caucus site and ultimately was allowed inside, but the problem she encountered was one example of the issues that beset the Republicans on a crucial day in the 2024 election cycle.
“They were definitely overwhelmed,” she said. “There were just a lot of people like myself — they said they were pre-registered. They had to know a lot of people were going to show up.”
The crowd at Ecker Hill Middle School was larger than Slade anticipated. She eventually was allowed to cast a ballot in the presidential preference poll, the most important business during the caucus. Her vote went to Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina. Haley ended her bid for the Republican nomination in the contest for the White House the day after the caucuses.
“It was disorganized. We should have just been able to go over to a box and put our vote in a box,” Slade said, indicating she has never missed voting in an election since she turned 18.
Donald Trump won Summit County by a wide margin in Tuesday’s presidential preference poll, preliminary results released by the state Republican Party show. The former president received 337 votes, or 57.7%, while Haley received 245 votes, or 42%. The results include votes from approximately half of the precincts in Summit County and will be updated by the party. Trump lost in Summit County, one of the state’s most reliably Democratic counties, on Election Day in 2016 and then again as he sought reelection four years later.
Another person at the Ecker Hill Middle School caucus location, Old Town resident Jeff Pierce, said his attendance on Tuesday was based on a desire to participate at a critical time in Utah and the United States. He declined to identify his selection in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.
“The state and country are at a crossroads. If I don’t make my voice heard. I shouldn’t expect it to be heard,” Pierce said, explaining that “effectiveness” is an important attribute when he selects candidates.
Pierce said the caucus also provided an opportunity to consider that there will be various offices on the ballot in November, when congressional, Statehouse and County Courthouse posts will be decided at the same time as the White House.
“I think the top of the ticket is the least important reason for me to be here,” he said.
The caucus-goers at Ecker Hill Middle School listened to brief remarks from Summit County party leaders before convening by neighborhood for their deliberations. The Summit County Republican Party said 435 people participated at the Ecker Hill Middle School location.
“We were absolutely thrilled with the attendance at the caucus,” said Jimmy May, the interim Park City regional chair of the party. To the party’s knowledge, he said, the countywide attendance was the best ever,
He said the Republican Party leadership in Summit County “went to great lengths” to publicize the caucuses.
May also said the online preregistration process was “nearly flawless, to my knowledge.” There were issues during in-person check in on Tuesday with “a few people,” he said. May added he is not aware of any registered Republicans being turned away from the caucuses in Summit County.