Utah Tea Party: We've Taken Over The State GOP

In a surprising development that sets the stage for a dramatic political showdown, tea party and grass-roots conservatives tell Newsmax they have seized control of Utah's GOP delegate system, and are now in a position to select which candidates will represent the party in the midterm elections.

"Our feeling is that the majority of the Republican Party delegates are now tea party people," Brian Halladay, one of the founders of the grass-roots Utah Rising organization, tells Newsmax.

Utah GOP leaders say they can't be sure, but concede the activists' assessment may be accurate.

"I'm sure they have a very strong bloc, and they may have control," Dave Hansen, chairman of the Utah GOP, tells Newsmax. "But we won't know that until we get to the convention."

That sets the stage for Utah's May 8 GOP convention. The balloting will come in three waves.

The first ballot will winnow the current field of eight candidates down to three.

The second ballot will narrow the field to the top two.

The delegate count in the third ballot will determine whether either candidate can win 60 percent or more of the 3,500 delegates' votes. Any candidate attaining the 60 percent mark will automatically be the party's nominee.

If neither candidate reaches the 60 percent threshold, the two candidates will compete in a GOP-wide primary this summer.

A tea party takeover of Utah's GOP would appear to be particularly bad news for incumbent GOP Sen. Bob Bennett. Despite Bennett's conservative record, especially on social issues, many tea party leaders are not pleased with some of his positions and have openly campaigned to unseat him. They are especially displeased that Bennett initially supported the TARP bailouts, a program he has since tried to end.

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