To discuss the 2024 election from both political sides, the St. George Chamber of Commerce focused their monthly Bills, Rights & Bites event—hosted by Intermountain Health Care—on the election results.
The panel included Sherry Nicholes from the Democratic Party standing in for chair Chuck Goode, and Lesa Sandberg, chair of the Republican Party in Washington County. Henrie Walton, the Chamber of Commerce’s public policy committee chair, mediated the event.
The event had around 30 people in attendance. Most seemed to know each other, chatting before the event officially started at noon. Lunch was provided by Intermountain Healthcare, so the audience members could eat while they listened to the panel.
The panel took the form of a discussion, so there was no debate happening. The representatives did not share the same opinion on everything, but they both expressed the importance of collaboration.
The result of the 2024 election was a surprise to both Nicholes and Sandberg. For Nicholes, it was a disappointing surprise, but Sandberg was delighted her candidate won.
“I was delightfully surprised and even more surprised and delighted that it was such a big win. That not only did we get the electoral votes, but we also got the popular vote which we haven’t had in 20 years,” Sandberg said.
The Republican party hasn’t won the popular vote since George W. Bush in 2004. This is a win former president Donald Trump did not receive when he ran against Hilary Clinton in 2016.
“Even though the margin is pretty small, it’s still a pretty big shift compared to what we have seen in previous elections,” Geoff Allen, assistant professor of political science at Utah Tech University, said. “Republicans, when they win, it’s because they have a slight advantage in the Electoral College, but a slight disadvantage with the popular vote.”
Another surprise in the 2024 election was the fact that Trump won the electoral votes for all seven swing states.
“That has only happened a few times in recent memories, where every swing state goes toward one candidate. It’s pretty uncommon,” Allen said.
Both parties campaigned differently in the messages they shared and the ways they got their message out to voters.
“I don’t know that the Democratic candidate, that all the Democrats were behind her. It was a whirlwind kind of nomination—and unexpected nomination. And I think there were Democrats that stayed home frustrated, which helps in our win,” Sandberg said.
Kamala Harris entered the race late after President Joe Biden dropped out July 21. This delay hurt her chances of winning.
Trump campaigned on a message of boosting the economy and stopping illegal immigration. Many Americans are very concerned about the economy.
Allen said, “Democrats were not that successful across the whole country in telling their story about the economy, which that story is supported by our economic indicators is that the economy for the last 18 months has been pretty good… We have had really low unemployment rates. We have had pretty low inflation numbers today and we have pretty good and robust growth numbers, but that message did not get through to a lot of voters.”
Concerns were raised about how collaboration between parties will work with the Republican Party having power over the U.S. presidency, Senate and House of Representatives.
“I think it’s going to depend a lot on the majority. We all saw what happened in the last four years, with all the fighting all the time, not getting much accomplished. If we’re willing to talk to each other, I think we should be more collaborative. Compromise is not a dirty word… I hope that we will be able to work together,” Nicholes said.
Sandberg was a lot less optimistic about collaboration happening on the national level.
“I’d love to see collaboration. Realistically, I don’t see much of it happening. We haven’t seen it for how many years. It’s not just this last four, the four before that or the four before that. Our country’s been very polarized,” Sandberg said.
However, on a county level, there has been a lot of collaboration between parties. Goode and Sandberg work to collaborate on issues in the community. Nicholes mentioned Goode’s idea that a good idea is a good idea no matter where it came from—a Republican or a Democrat.
The panel also discussed the election of Governor Spencer Cox and the write-in candidate of Phil Lyman.
“I understand that Utah, on the surface, is a Republican state, but we need people to represent both sides and when you have the Senate and the House and they pass everything and the Governor rubber stamps it, that’s not good for us,” Nicholes said. “And I feel like that’s what Governor Cox has turned out to be even though he said he was going to be different.”
Nicholes was very supportive of Lyman as a write-in candidate because she hoped it would split the votes, Cox would not be elected and as she said, “we’d have a little bit of common sense in our state representatives.”
Sandberg was against the write-in because it stole votes from Cox, but overall, she got the outcome she was hoping for.
The attendees left with a greater understanding of the events of the 2024 election and an understanding of who is involved in the governing of this area. There was also a main message of respect for people of other political views and understanding that collaboration is possible between the two groups without resulting to insults and contention.
