I must admit that it was somewhat refreshing to go to a convention and not have to actually worry about hocking a campaign or idea. No, I could, for the first time in years, simply be a delegate and take in the entirety of the days events.

For those of you who did not attend, I can tell you that this was, by far, one of the largest conventions I have seen in years for Salt Lake County, and for good reason. There were no less than three major races up for grabs, and each campaign made it abundantly clear that they expected their supporters to show up in force.

The Young Democrats, too, had a strong showing, and I was impressed that nearly every candidate and lawmaker, from the state on down, took the time to wait and speak to our caucus. I counted at least 35 candidates lining up just to speak to our group. In the end the body chose to endorse Arlyn Bradshaw for County Council District 1, Sim Gill for District Attorney, and Rebecca Chavez-Houck for House District 24. Asside from Bradshaw, both Gill and Chavez-Houck made it out of convention with out much trouble.

And it turns out that that was the big story from the convention. The race between Bradshaw and Cal Noyce would span three votes and two hours – resulting in an eventual primary run that will take place on June 6th. Now, there is a whole blog post in and of itself about why this race will prove interesting and you can expect one coming soon.

The convention was abuzz about the impending decision delegates will have to make regarding House District 2. Both Claudia Wright and Jim Matheson were present, and both were pressing the flesh in an attempt to gain supporters. Wright at the Young Democrats meeting called those (such as myself) who say that she is unelectable “fearmongerers” and that conventioneers should not believe the hype.

I still think that Wright victory is wishful thinking and that I am not so much fearmongering as looking at reality, however I have invited Ashley Anderson, a staunch Wright supporter and political activist, to write on this blog why he feels Wright can win.

Finally, I would like to tell a nice story about Salt Lake County Mayor (and hopefully next Governor of Utah), Peter Corroon. I stepped outside to get some cool air, as tradition seems to be to never turn on the air conditioning at these events, when I spotted Mayor Corroon playing with his two young boys. Encouraging them to work off a little steam after a long day standing around boring adults, he tells them to run from one side of West High’s football field to the other. After returning, one of his children challenge him to another foot race. Sure enough, Mayor Corroon, in full suit and tie mind you, goes running across the field. Now, I am convinced that Corroon threw the race and let his son win (I know, right?), but I think it speaks volumes about his character.