UT: Clear Skies and Records for Romney?
By Josh White
When polls opened for Utah's primary this morning at 7 a.m., state officials were already pleased with the results because early voting had nearly pushed the state past its turnout in 2000. That year, the state had a 10 percent voter turnout, and this year there have already been better numbers before the polls opened.
Joe Demma, chief of staff for the Lt. Governor's office, which runs the state elections, said Utah officials are hoping for a 30 percent turnout or higher, something they believe the state is poised to meet.
"Things are going very well so far," Demma said. "As far as election days go, it's been relatively smooth."
Polling places in urban areas have been moderately busy this morning and some smaller counties have been experiencing "very long lines," Demma said.
Utah is expected to vote heavily in favor of Mitt Romney, who graduated from Brigham Young University, ran the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and owns a home in the state. He also connects with a heavily Mormon population. The Democratic race has been tightly contested.
Unlike neighboring Colorado, which saw heavy snows last night and this morning, Utah has seen clear blue skies. Polls close tonight at 8 p.m. local time.
Posted at 1:53 PM ET on Feb 5, 2008
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Posted by: gwu84llm | February 6, 2008 1:57 AM
Mitt was almost Governor of Utah, until he decided to become the GINO (Governor in Name Only) of Massachusetts. One wonders if he would have brought more enthusiasm and commitment to the Utah gig?
Posted by: Ford1998 | February 5, 2008 2:31 PM
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Romney appears to have built a pretty good record in Massachusetts, including getting the state out of a budget deficit and no raise in taxes, with a small percentage of the difference coming from user fees charged to people who specifically benefitted from government services. His term there was marked by actions that were honorable, unlike Huckabee's record of corruption charges.