Utah's Unaffiliated Voter Registration Keeps Growing

A Great Party Shift?

Utah voters are increasingly choosing to register as unaffiliated, and much of that growth appears to be coming at the expense of the Republican Party. The question is: why?

Whose to Blame?

Sure, it's easy to point fingers at the current administration, and there's plenty of evidence available, but this feels bigger. After years of campaign promises from both parties, some voters seem less interested in party loyalty and more interested in actual results.

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Could it be that we have become more careful and selective with our choices rather than sticking with a party line? If this is the case, we must ask ourselves the most burning question: if we can decide to be more thoughtful about our political choices is it possible to dial down commitment to some of our other habits?

Camping in the Passing lane

Is it too optimistic to believe that we might cease to commit to driving 3 miles under the speed limit in left lane like it is a personal freeway cheat code? Yes, I am talking to you midsized RV driver with a Mario Andretti complex. If you are trying to be more careful in your voting decisions, maybe you can try the right lane for a few miles and see how it feels.

Pickleball Power

With this new sense of choosing power, maybe Utah Pickleball players can more carefully assess the need to decide every point with the intensity of Wimbledon. Not every ball needs to be slammed into the kitchen as if the fate of our political future hangs on your winning the next point.

Utah Corporate Treat and Retreats

Duckpin bowling is a small faced paced version of the bigger game. David Hiatt/ TSM Photo

Maybe the growth in unaffiliated voters really represents not a move to the left or right, but a desire to hand-pick leaders instead of automatically accepting a team jersey, if that is true maybe Southern Utah companies can weigh the advantages of a retreat where an entire theater is rented, monogramed shirts provided along with enough catered chicken to feed a small nation in favor of a small bonus and a Thank You to a team who wants to just go home and watch the movie there.

To keep things in perspective Republicans still make up the largest share of Utah voters. We're talking roughly 50% Republican compared to about 34% unaffiliated so maybe I should just get used to the view behind the RV in the left lane.