August 11, 2026

Governor Calls House into Special Session to Address Subpoena Powers, Immunity Offers of Swallow Investigative Committee

On July 17, the Utah House will meet in a special session to, in the words of Speaker Becky Lockhart in a letter to legislators, “ensure that our new investigative committee has all the tools needed to conduct a thorough and fair investigation of the allegations surrounding the state’s Attorney General.” In other words, the […]

Tact: a lesson in politics from Mike Mower

Tonight, I caught up with Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s chief of staff, Mike Mower, at a Salt Lake County Young Republican meeting. Mower had a few simple pieces of advice that I thought were interesting. Rather than push conservative talking points or take the opportunity to push the Governor’s agenda (ok, other than a plug […]

Jim Dabakis is taking his lessons from Harry Reid

Utah Democratic Chair Jim Dabakis is on the hunt. Or perhaps more accurate, a fishing expedition.

He’s trying to force the Utah Legislature to let him play by different rules than other tax payers by giving him documents for free just because he claims to smell a rat, never mind that he lacks any proof.

Like Harry Reid claiming Mitt Romney hasn’t paid taxes, an assertion that can only be disproved by exposing Romney to undue scrutiny, Dabakis is claiming a foul against the Utah Legislature that can be disproved only by granting Dabakis special privileges not given to other mere humans (i.e. tax payers).

The Legislature should uphold its duty to the people of Utah and requiring Dabakis and the Democratic Party to pay for the documents Dabakis has requested, just like everyone else. Allowing Dabakis a special priviledge and to have them without paying would set a bad precedent of the Utah Legislature bowing to pressure from political party leaders.

It’s ironic, really. That’s a complaint that Dabakis is usually leveling against the Legislature about Republicans, not the other way around. Funny how things change when the shoe is on the other foot. [cont…]

Half of life is showing up

It’s often been said that most of life is showing up (Woody Allen quantified it as “80 percent,” so who am I to argue?).  So what does it say about our political candidates who won’t show up? In Utah, the presumed front-runners are not showing up. Complains Douglas Mortensen with Salt Lake’s Rotary Club: For […]

October Surprise or Legitimate Lawsuit?

Image of Mayor Peter Corroon via Wikipedia It seems James Evans, former Salt Lake County Republican Party Chair has taken a Latin phrase seriously: In Ius Voco Spurius. Robert Gehrke lays out how Evans is accusing Utah gubernatorial candidate and Salt Lake County mayor Peter Corroon of violating campaign finance laws: The lawsuit, filed by former county […]

Governor Herbert “isn’t an attorney.”

Just in case you were wondering, Utah Attorney General wants to make it clear: Mark Shurtleff is in charge of the investigation into “the List,” now and Governor Herbert is not, let me repeat, not an attorney. (and by “The List,” I am referring to this) All cleared up? “The governor is not an attorney, […]