2006 Precinct Election Victory - Doc & Cov 103:36

I came across this scripture today in my morning studies and it reminded me of a political moment:

"All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith" (Doctrine & Covenants 103:36)

If I remember right, I came across this scripture when I was just a week away from the 2006 precinct caucuses where I was planning on running for precinct chair.

Our precinct at the time was pretty volatile, since both mayoral candidates from the city election months before lived in my same precinct. Even though we were all Republicans, there was still a HUGE division in political mindset concerning how to handle the city, and the candidate that I supported won. Rumor had it that the losing mayoral candidate was going to try to run for precinct chair. To complicate matters further, an individual from Eagle Mountain City had declared to run for US Congress against the incumbent. Why did this matter? Well, the group of people that supported the losing candidate for mayor also supported this congressional challenger, while those (like me) that supported the winning candidate for mayor also supported the Congressional incumbent.

Since the precinct caucuses elect delegates to the county and state conventions, smart candidates in contested races realize that the election is half over on caucus night, depending on how many committed delegates they can get elected to attend the convention on their behalf. So, good ol' Eagle Mountain politics suddenly extended into the Republican congressional race. Sigh!

At this time, our city was still the laughing stock of the Wasatch Front, and many government officials (especially UDOT - the Utah Dept. of Transportation) still brushed us and our needs away like little irritating children. I knew this could change if our city became more organized and coordinated on a political basis, particularly in the Republican Party since the large majority of elected officials in Utah County were Republican . I figured that if our precinct chairs and delegates attended debates and open houses, actively participated in party committee meetings, and voted in large numbers, then hopefully we could form good relationships with the elected officials that really matter, so that at least our needs could be seriously heard and considered.

From 2004-2006, I had served as EM02 precinct secretary. In my observation (which of course, is limited), precinct chairs from Eagle Mountain up to this point had done just about nothing but show up for the convention and vote, except for maybe Erin Madsen over in the 1st precinct. To me this was totally unacceptable considering our city's needs and the potential for good that existed.

When our newly elected mayor originally wanted to run as precinct chair in 2006, I strongly felt that he would not have the time necessary to do the work that I felt needed to happen. (Perhaps did I subconsciously have a premonition about what would happen with this mayor? Who knows?) Even though other major political players in the city at the time tried to encourage this person to run and discourage me from running, I was able to persuade our mayor not to run but to support me instead.

I won't go into detail here about the rest of the hurdles I had to clear - let's just say there were very very many over the course of the three months I was working on this. But once when I was quite discouraged, I came across Doctrine & Covenants 103:36, which clearly impressed upon me that I just needed to keep going, continue faithful, keep praying, and then things would work out okay. Did that mean, as someone close to me once misunderstood, that I felt that God wanted me to win instead of the other person? No, that wasn't it. I felt that if I relied on His help and guidance, that I could do my very best and feel content with that, regardless of whether I won or not.

Well, long story made short - the losing mayoral candidate did try to run against me for precinct chair, and I won by only 7 or 8 votes! Once I won, pretty much everyone else on my slate won, except one of my county delegates who lost that position but still won as an alternate. So, all in all, it worked out. Besides winning as Junior Class Secretary in High School, I think this was the first election I had won. Michael and I celebrated afterwards with Arctic Circle shakes!

Well, I learned a lot over the next two years, actively participating in the central committee meetings, trying to connect with other precinct chairs, learning a bit about how the party works, helping to get some good Republicans elected, holding voter registration drives, and trying to get more organized and communicate more with my neighbors about political stuff. I didn't always feel successful, but I know I was able to do much more than had ever been done before, and hopefully I was able to set a bit of a precedent. We'll see. At least by serving as precinct chair, I was also able to run for the Constitution & Bylaws Committee for our county party, a position that is perfect for me right now. So all in all, I'm very very grateful and happy for how things turned out!