Candidate for governor Peter Cooke talks with an attendee at the state Democratic convention in Salt Lake City Saturday, Abril 21, 2012.
Brian Nicholson, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — Republicans, beware: Democrats want you to want them.
It's no cheap trick. Utah Democrats said they offer moderate alternatives for traditionally Republican voters, especially those who may be disenchanted with the GOP's hard-to-the-right tea party drift.
Democrats have long known that they need to pull Republicans their way to have any shot of winning an election in the overwhelmingly red Beehive State. And this year Utah's minority party candidates appear to be courting Republicans more overtly than in years past.
"We're very actively asking Republicans to vote for me," said state Sen. Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake.
Supporters created a Facebook page called "Republicans for Ben" to help his quest for the Salt Lake County mayor's job. The site even includes a GOP elephant painted blue and orange to reflect McAdams' campaign colors rather than the customary red, white and blue, a move Utah GOP Chairman Thomas Wright says amounts to intellectual property theft and should be removed.
McAdams recently held a press conference with several Republican and independent mayors to show their support. They gathered in the median on a Murray street as a symbolic bipartisan gesture.
He and Republican Mark Crockett, a former Salt Lake County councilman, are vying to replace Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, who isn't seeking re-election.
"Certainly, winning crossover support is important in Utah," McAdams said.
A Deseret News/KSL statewide poll this summer asked respondents about their political affiliation. The results showed 48 percent are Republican, 16 percent Democrat and 31 percent independent.
Wright says Democrats are running candidates who don't espouse their own party's platform and who are just trying to see how they can fit into the GOP.
"Republicans don't fall for that. The Republican Party in this state is as astute as it's ever been," he said.
Democrat Jay Seegmiller, too, is zeroing in on Republican voters in his race against Chris Stewart in the 2nd Congressional District.
Seegmiller's campaign used GOP state delegate lists to target invitees to a breakfast last weekend in St. George. About 50 to 60 people showed up, including some he identified as tea party types.
"In this race, we've gotten a pretty clear message from a lot of the Republicans that we've been talking to that they're not particularly enamored with their nominee, so we are reaching out to get them to take a look at us," he said.
