Now available, check out my after-convention wrap-up by clicking here.
This seems like a good place to start a new blog article about the Utah State Republican convention. The other article has gotten very long. And more importantly, the excitement is about to begin!!
The first round of Senate balloting has been tabulated. THIS is a surprise:
Mike Lee received 28.75%
Bridgewater received 26.84%
Bob Bennett received 25.81%
Cherilyn Eagar received 15.84%
I am SHOCKED that Eagar is out. She must be crestfallen.
1:46 PM - After 1-minute speeches by the remaining 3 candidates, it's off to the ballot boxes again. It looks like there will be a primary--but between who and whom? ;-)
1:55 PM - I'm back from voting in the second round of the Senate race. This round seems to have gone as well as the first as far as efficiency. I've heard more than one person think that almost NONE of Cherilyn Eagar's votes (or votes from any of the other eliminated candidates) will go to Bob Bennett. But stranger things have happened, like in 2010 when Greg Hawkins went from a primary with Orrin Hatch to giving a concession speech because one ballot box had miraculously been found that hadn't been counted, and it had a whole bunch of votes for Hatch!!!
It makes sense to me, though, that under normal circumstances, most of the votes from eliminated candidates will go to Mike Lee in the second round. Under ANY circumstances, I cannot imagine that ANY Eagar votes will go to Bennett. I predict that the 3rd round of voting will come down to Bridgewater and Lee. And I ALSO predict that very few delegates will go home early this year!
2:05 PM - 2nd Round Senate and Governor balloting is closed. I can't take it anymore!!!!!!! Who won???
2:13 PM - Cherilyn Eagar supporters are now twittering that they'd rather die than vote for Bennett. I predict that most votes from eliminated candidates will go to Lee (votes are being tallied now), and that Bennett will be out in the 2nd round. My predictions: Lee 42% Bridgewater 32% Bennett 26%.
2:19 PM - Welcome readers from Nebraska, Delaware, Florida, a few states in the midwest, and nearly every Western state. I wish you could all be here. The tension in the Salt Palace is palpable. ...or is it just me?
2:29 PM - Orrin Hatch speaks to the crowd as we wait for the vote tallies. First thing out of his mouth: "I want you to know I am listening." Well, duh! Considering that Bob Bennett is probably on his way to pasture, you'd better start listening!!! If it turns out that Bennett is gone, that bodes well for getting rid of Utah's other not-so-conservative Senator in two years.
2:32 PM - The one thing I surely agree with Senator Hatch on is that the Jazz are gonna kick the Lakers butt tonight at Energy Solutions Arena!!!
2:44 PM - And the winners in the second round are....
...they're still pontificating at the podium. Stay tuned. ;-(
2:56 PM - I guess I should have known who the Republican National Committeeman was who just LECTURED us, but I didn't. Who is he to tell ME that if I am an independent thinker I am not courageous? When he asked us to stand up if we're Republicans, I didn't stand. I'm a Republican, but not a party jingoist.
3:09 PM - It sounds like they're about ready to announce the second round results. I have to go to the bathroooooom sooooo bad, but a soldier does not leave his post...
3:12 PM - They're talking about platform amendments now. I guess I better get my papers out of my backpack so I can figure out how I plan on voting...Oh, oh! Someone proposed an amendment to a motion when another amendment was being considered. According to Robert's Rules of Order--THAT is a no-no!
3:20 PM - Wow this sucks in more ways than one. A half hour ago, the SL Trib reported that Bennett and Lee advance to the next round. Meanwhile, the delegates sit here in blissful ignorance.Interestingly, it appears that Robert Gehrke of the Tribune has jumped the gun. I can find no other reportage of Bennett and Lee's second round advancement.
3:36 PM - Bennett DID NOT advance. The Tribune is wrong! Maybe it was a boiler plate story that got produced to early, but here's a picture of it for posterity.
Here are the actual results: Bridgewater 37.42%, Lee 35.99%, Bennett 26.9, who only picked up 20 votes in the second round, as I predicted.
For his 1-minute speech, Mike Lee yielded to a video of Senator Jim DeMint supporting Mike Lee for Senate. Very well done.
The first round of Senate balloting has been tabulated. THIS is a surprise:
Mike Lee received 28.75%
Bridgewater received 26.84%
Bob Bennett received 25.81%
Cherilyn Eagar received 15.84%
I am SHOCKED that Eagar is out. She must be crestfallen.
1:46 PM - After 1-minute speeches by the remaining 3 candidates, it's off to the ballot boxes again. It looks like there will be a primary--but between who and whom? ;-)
1:55 PM - I'm back from voting in the second round of the Senate race. This round seems to have gone as well as the first as far as efficiency. I've heard more than one person think that almost NONE of Cherilyn Eagar's votes (or votes from any of the other eliminated candidates) will go to Bob Bennett. But stranger things have happened, like in 2010 when Greg Hawkins went from a primary with Orrin Hatch to giving a concession speech because one ballot box had miraculously been found that hadn't been counted, and it had a whole bunch of votes for Hatch!!!
It makes sense to me, though, that under normal circumstances, most of the votes from eliminated candidates will go to Mike Lee in the second round. Under ANY circumstances, I cannot imagine that ANY Eagar votes will go to Bennett. I predict that the 3rd round of voting will come down to Bridgewater and Lee. And I ALSO predict that very few delegates will go home early this year!
2:05 PM - 2nd Round Senate and Governor balloting is closed. I can't take it anymore!!!!!!! Who won???
2:13 PM - Cherilyn Eagar supporters are now twittering that they'd rather die than vote for Bennett. I predict that most votes from eliminated candidates will go to Lee (votes are being tallied now), and that Bennett will be out in the 2nd round. My predictions: Lee 42% Bridgewater 32% Bennett 26%.
2:19 PM - Welcome readers from Nebraska, Delaware, Florida, a few states in the midwest, and nearly every Western state. I wish you could all be here. The tension in the Salt Palace is palpable. ...or is it just me?
2:29 PM - Orrin Hatch speaks to the crowd as we wait for the vote tallies. First thing out of his mouth: "I want you to know I am listening." Well, duh! Considering that Bob Bennett is probably on his way to pasture, you'd better start listening!!! If it turns out that Bennett is gone, that bodes well for getting rid of Utah's other not-so-conservative Senator in two years.
2:32 PM - The one thing I surely agree with Senator Hatch on is that the Jazz are gonna kick the Lakers butt tonight at Energy Solutions Arena!!!
2:44 PM - And the winners in the second round are....
...they're still pontificating at the podium. Stay tuned. ;-(
2:56 PM - I guess I should have known who the Republican National Committeeman was who just LECTURED us, but I didn't. Who is he to tell ME that if I am an independent thinker I am not courageous? When he asked us to stand up if we're Republicans, I didn't stand. I'm a Republican, but not a party jingoist.
3:09 PM - It sounds like they're about ready to announce the second round results. I have to go to the bathroooooom sooooo bad, but a soldier does not leave his post...
3:12 PM - They're talking about platform amendments now. I guess I better get my papers out of my backpack so I can figure out how I plan on voting...Oh, oh! Someone proposed an amendment to a motion when another amendment was being considered. According to Robert's Rules of Order--THAT is a no-no!
3:20 PM - Wow this sucks in more ways than one. A half hour ago, the SL Trib reported that Bennett and Lee advance to the next round. Meanwhile, the delegates sit here in blissful ignorance.Interestingly, it appears that Robert Gehrke of the Tribune has jumped the gun. I can find no other reportage of Bennett and Lee's second round advancement.
3:36 PM - Bennett DID NOT advance. The Tribune is wrong! Maybe it was a boiler plate story that got produced to early, but here's a picture of it for posterity.
Here are the actual results: Bridgewater 37.42%, Lee 35.99%, Bennett 26.9, who only picked up 20 votes in the second round, as I predicted.
For his 1-minute speech, Mike Lee yielded to a video of Senator Jim DeMint supporting Mike Lee for Senate. Very well done.
Wow, this is exciting. I think I'm rooting for Lee.
ReplyDeleteAnxiously awaiting the results! I wanted to be there so bad! Hoping for a primary between Bridgewater and Lee.
ReplyDeleteTrib reported 15 minutes ago that Bennett and Lee advance
ReplyDeleteNo, no, no. How can Bennett advance to the third round? I'm in shock!
ReplyDeleteI bet the officials are holding the results back to keep delegates there to deal with the remainder of the agenda. In years past, once the candidates were decided, most delegates left so the platform amendments and resolutions could not be voted on for lack of a majority. You are being held hostage! ;)
ReplyDeleteTrib could have accidentally posted "boilerplate" if they had canned versions of one story or another ready to go... Pushed wrong button, y'know, like the P&G errant trade on Wall Street. Only other scenario is that Gehrke scooped big time.
ReplyDeleteSure enough. Trib boilerplate got advanced incorrectly ala Dewey-Truman. Major egg on face of someone down there.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your prediction--will we have a candidate coming out of the convention or a primary race?
ReplyDeleteBarbara: At this point it looks like a Lee/Bridgewater primary. The fact that Bennett is out is a very healthy thing. Although I prefer Lee, a primary will also be a good thing for Utah.
ReplyDeleteAny updates on the third round of voting?
ReplyDeleteDid the Trib run a story or was it another propaganda piece? I think more than anything they want Bennett in somehow, anyhow.
ReplyDeleteThe Trib! Are they even still considered a newspaper? Or more of a radical left-wing college project? Not sure.
Wow, there is a real chance that Bridgewater will take 60%! Shocker though I would be very OK with that.
ReplyDelete