Republican Party Sets Special Election for House District 57
With Rep. Craig Frank’s resignation from the Legislature, the Utah County Republican Party has scheduled a special election to select his replacement.
The special election will take place on Saturday, January 29 at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Academy 1582 West 3300 North, Pleasant Grove. Any registered Republican living within the District 57 boundaries, may indicate their candidacy for the vacant House seat by submitting their intent in writing to both Taylor Oldroyd, Utah County Republican Party Chair, and Lisa Shepherd, party secretary by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan 27. Their email addresses are: taylor@ucaor.com and lisa.shepherd@utahcountygop.org.
Delegates who were elected at Neighborhood Caucuses last March or appointed since then and who live within the boundaries of District 57 will elect the new Representative and fill the midterm vacancy. They are being invited to a Meet the Candidates event scheduled for Friday, Jan. 28, 6-8 p.m. also at Lincoln Academy. Candidates will also be available to meet with delegates on Jan. 29, at 6 p.m., just prior to the election. Those delegates who were recently found to live outside District 57, will not be eligible to participate in the Jan. 29 election.
The District 57 vacancy comes on the heels of the discovery that Rep. Frank did not live in his district, a constitutional requirement. Rep. Frank had moved from Pleasant Grove to Cedar Hills two years ago, to a neighborhood that, according, to county maps, appeared to be in his district. Recently, it came to light that there was a discrepancy between the county maps and the state-defined boundaries, and Rep. Frank’s current residence is not within the district.
“The Utah County Republican Party is committed to making sure that the residents of House District 57 are represented during this Legislative session. We, like all parties, have been waiting for the past several days for this issue to be resolved. Now that Rep. Frank has resigned, we are moving forward as quickly as possible to find his replacement, utilizing a process that has solid precedent in this state. We want to thank Rep. Frank for his dedicated service to the people of District 57, and the state as a whole. We also thank the delegates who will play an important role in this coming week,” Oldroyd said. “We also encourage the Legislature to move quickly to resolve this boundary issue,” he added.