A New Deal in Utah
Economic troubles during the 1930s prompted Utahns to change their usual voting pattern and to vote for Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt (pictured below).
A recent presidential campaign featured a large sign hung in its headquarters. The sign said simply: ''It's the economy, stupid.''
And Utah's political history reminds us of the powerful role of the economy in elections.
In the early 1930s, Utah was devastated by the effects of the Great Depression. Riots broke out at the Salt Lake City and County Building when banks attempted to foreclose on mortgages of debt-ridden families. Mothers marched on the Capitol building carrying signs demanding milk for hungry children. 
Republicans had dominated the presidential vote in Utah since statehood, but in 1932 voters turned to democrat Franklin Roosevelt's ''New Deal''. The world of politics in Utah was turned upside down by the pain of an economy gone bad.
It's a page from our political past. This year, your vote will help write the next chapter of Utah history.
A Pioneering Congresswoman
Reva Beck Bosone was the first woman ever elected a judge in the state of Utah and, later, the first Congress-woman from Utah.
''If you want to serve the people, go where the laws are made.''
That was the philosophy of Reva Beck Bosone, who took the state by storm when she became the first woman to represent Utah in the halls of Congress.
During her first political race, Bosone carried her two-year-old daughter door-to-door as she campaigned in Carbon County for a seat in the state legislature.
In 1936 she became the first woman ever elected a judge in the state of Utah. Bosone never bowed to public opinion. She was a fierce liberal from a generally conservative state. Her straight talk earned her a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the late-1940s, but it also made political enemies.
In the era of Joseph McCarthy, Bosone was labeled ''soft'' on Communism -- a charge that may have cost her the 1952 election. But her career had changed the face of Utah politics forever.
In this election year, your vote will help write the next chapter of history.
Utah's Nastiest Race
J. Bracken Lee (left) and Herbert Maw (right) held firm political grudges as a result of the 1948 Gubernatorial race.
The 1948 race for governor was what many believe to be the nastiest political war in state history.
Democrat incumbent Governor Herbert Maw was challenged by Republican maverick J. Bracken Lee. Maw had narrowly defeated Lee in 1944 in the tightest election in Utah history.
In 1948, Lee attacked Maw's administration as corrupt.
Maw responded with a ''Dear Brother'' letter aimed at Mormon voters, attacking Lee's morality. The letter backfired, and Lee surged to an upset victory in the race for governor.
Some political grudges die hard.
Forty years later, Herbert Maw and J. Bracken Lee still had a hard time talking to each other and shaking hands. Characteristically, each blamed the other for the slight.
It's a page from Utah's political past. This year, your vote will help write the next chapter of history.
Fall from Grace
Doug Stringfellow (pictured) resigned from Congress when the public discovered he had lied about his military record.
While cheering crowds on election night can represent the thrill of victory, two Utah congressmen remind us that politics can also result in a crushing fall from grace.
In 1952 Doug Stringfellow was elected to Congress. . .based in no small part on his claims of being a wounded war hero. Midway through his two year term, it was discovered that Stringfellow had lied about his military record. He resigned from office in disgrace.
In 1976, Allan Howe was viewed as unbeatable as he prepared for re-election to Congress. But Howe's political fortunes fell apart when he was arrested for soliciting a police decoy prostitute in Salt Lake City (as reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, at right).While neither incident related directly to performance in office, both serve as powerful reminders of the expectations we have of the character of elected officials.
Refusing to Quit
President Lyndon B. Johnson (left) shakes hands with fellow Democrat, Utah Governor Cal Rampton (right). Rampton is the only governor to have served three terms in the state.
While cheering crowds on election night can represent the thrill of victory, two Utah congressmen remind us that politics can also result in a crushing fall from grace.
In 1952 Doug Stringfellow was elected to Congress. . .based in no small part on his claims of being a wounded war hero. Midway through his two year term, it was discovered that Stringfellow had lied about his military record. He resigned from office in disgrace.
In 1976, Allan Howe was viewed as unbeatable as he prepared for re-election to Congress. But Howe's political fortunes fell apart when he was arrested for soliciting a police decoy prostitute in Salt Lake City (as reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, at right).
While neither incident related directly to performance in office, both serve as powerful reminders of the expectations we have of the character of elected officials.
Utah's Greatest Comeback
In 1988, Governor Norm Bangerter (pictured) was re-elected by just one percent of the vote.
In 1987, many observers considered Utah Governor Norm Bangerter politically dead. Faced with a troubled economy, Bangerter had pushed for a large tax increase to avoid a deficit. The capitol was the scene of angry tax protests (pictured at right), denouncing the first-term Republican as betraying his conservative roots.
Seeking a second term, Bangerter lagged far behind in voter preference polls. But he battled back.
Without apology, Bangerter defended the tax increase as good management. . .and, slowly, the polls began to turn around. On election night, 1988, Bangerter earned a one-percent re-election victory. In the pages of Utah history, it ranks as the state's most dramatic political comeback.
Native American Victory
One hundred and thirty years after Native Americans were pushed to isolated reservations, the Navajo people of Utah reclaimed a place in the American political process.
In 1987, Navajo Mark Maryboy was elected a San Juan County Commissioner and became the first Native American to hold such a position in the state of Utah.
Calling it only a beginning, three years later Maryboy organized the first all Native American slate for county office in the history of the United States. Despite high racial tension, thousands of Navajo voters traveled up to 80 miles to be a part of an historic election.
While Maryboy was the only successful candidate that day, his courage opened a door of political opportunity for the Navajo.
This Utah Political Moment is just one reminder that each vote is precious, and your vote this year will help write the next page in Utah's history.
Landslides and Slim Victories
In 1997, Governor Michael Leavitt (pictured, with wife Jacqueline) took office after the largest margin of victory in a statewide election. Utah State Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Zimmerman administered the oath.
An old adage holds that a one-vote victory becomes a landslide in the eyes of a politician. And Utah has had its share of landslides and whisper-thin margins of victory.
The largest margin of victory in a statewide election in Utah came in 1996, when Governor Michael Leavitt was re-elected with seventy-five percent of the vote. The largest margin of victory in a Utah presidential vote was secured by Ronald Reagan. . .who swept the state in 1984 with seventy-four percent of the vote.
But the honor for closest statewide election goes to the 1944 race for governor, when Herbert Maw defeated J. Bracken Lee. That year, two hundred and fifty thousand votes were cast, and the winning margin was just one thousand votes -- four-tenths of one percent, or roughly one voter per precinct in Utah.
Landslide or dead-heat, in this election year, remember that your vote can make a difference.
One Vote Changed History
Throughout the election year of 2000 we've been reminding you that your vote helps write the next chapter of history.
And the pages of history remind us of the powerful impact of one vote:
- In 1776 a single vote margin selected English over German as the nation's language for official business.
- In 1867, one vote in the Senate kept President Andrew Johnson from being removed from office during his impeachment trial.
- In 1876, one vote in the House of Representatives awarded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in the nation's most controversial presidential election.
- And in 1923, Adolph Hitler took over leadership of the German Nazi party by a single vote.
History can be shaped by one person's view of right and wrong.
And history shows us that the only time one vote doesn't matter is when it's not cast.
