Weber County Democratic Party head steps down, sparks intraparty debate
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- Carly Cassidy was picked on Saturday, April 3, 2021, to serve as chairperson of the Weber County Democratic Party. She replaced Zach Thomas, who didn’t seek reelection to the post.
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- Kerry Wayne was a Democratic hopeful for the District 29 Utah House seat in 2018 and 2020.
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- Kate Miller, interim chairperson of the Weber County Democratic Party.
OGDEN — The head of the Weber County Democratic Party has stepped down because she’ll be moving, which has sparked debate about the party’s showing here locally last November.
Carly Cassidy, elected by fellow Democrats in April 2021 to lead the party, stepped down from the post earlier this month since she’ll be moving to Alaska to pursue a master’s degree in public administration at a university there. “I’m in grad school and have to move,” she said.
The turn of events prompted Kerry Wayne, who unsuccessfully vied as a Democrat for the Utah House in 2018 and 2020, to speak out, lamenting what he described as a poor showing for Democrats in elections in 2022. Wayne lost to Cassidy in the vote two years ago to lead the county party and was actually banned last year by the Weber County and Utah Democratic parties from involvement with the organizations stemming from a series of verbal altercations with other Democrats.
“Last year was a particularly disappointing showing for the party with only one successful Utah House race (Dr. Rosemary Lesser). Due to poor recruitment, many state and county offices went unopposed last election cycle, and the county party gave little help to Democratic candidates that chose to run,” Wayne, who’s from Marriott-Slaterville, said in a message to the Standard-Examiner. Wayne may still remain ideologically aligned with the Democratic Party, but both he and Kate Miller, who has been elevated to interim party head from her post as vice chairperson with Cassidy’s resignation, confirmed his ban by leaders of the Utah and Weber County Democratic parties.
Democrats typically struggle against Republicans in GOP-dominated Weber County, same as Democrats in much of Utah, but Lesser won election to the District 10 Utah House seat, which covers parts of Ogden and South Ogden. She is the only Democrat in the Utah Legislature from outside Salt Lake County.
Cassidy and Miller countered Wayne’s criticism. Wayne has also been a loud critic of Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell stemming from the construction of several warehouses on the grounds of the city-owned Business Depot Ogden across from the homes of numerous Marriott-Slaterville residents, including his.
Cassidy pointed to the election of Lesser and Stacy Bernal to the Ogden school board as successes from the 2022 cycle. The school board is a nonpartisan post but the party, Cassidy and Miller said, threw its support behind Bernal in her successful bid to oust incumbent Douglas Barker.
Wayne, moreover, maintains that the county party should have used its war chest to donate to local Democratic candidates in 2022. Contributions to the county party totaled $26,571.23 last year, according to financial reporting documents he compiled, but none appears to have been donated to individual candidates.
“To me that’s what it’s all about,” Wayne said. If a Democrat or Republican donates to their respective party, “wouldn’t you believe they would be helping candidates?” He also levied his criticism in an email that Miller said went out to county party delegates.
Cassidy, though, said the party has helped candidates in other ways — sending text messages, knocking on doors and calling voters to spur interest in Democratic candidates. Donating funds to individual candidates, she said, has not been a typical role for the Weber County Democratic Party.
She acknowledged the criticism regarding the lack of Democratic hopefuls up and down the slate last year.
“I agree, but the candidates we did have were pretty strong candidates,” Cassidy said. She’d rather have a slate of fewer but stronger candidates than a full slate of weaker hopefuls.
Miller said some Democratic Party stalwarts were disappointed with local election results last year. But she blamed what she said was gerrymandering of the Utah House districts by state lawmakers that made them more favorable to Republicans.
Miller, who plans to vie for the top party spot when local Democrats gather next month to fill it, also sees no problem with the way the party has spent donations. A special election is tentatively to be held in February to select a party chairperson, who will serve at least until the regular Weber County Democratic Party convention on April 15. That’s when party delegates will meet to vote on party leadership for the next two years.
“I don’t feel we’ve done anything wrong in the way we’re spending contributions,” Miller said. Like Cassidy, she noted other efforts of party reps to back their hopefuls — door knocking, helping with social media, meeting periodically with candidates and more.
Looking forward, Cassidy said the Weber County Democratic Party will be neutral in municipal primaries this cycle. Then party leaders will decide if they get involved in the general election campaign.
It’s tough being a Democrat in a Republican stronghold, but “I think you have to take a long view,” Miller said, and focus on results over longer time spans.