Tooele County was once a stronghold for the Democratic Party. From roughly 1940 through 1980, the party dominated the county's state legislative races and held most county offices.

"There was a time when you could count on Tooele County to elect good Democrats like Karl Swan, George Mantes and Ron Allen to the state Senate," said Beverly White, former Tooele County Democratic Party chair and a former Democratic state representative from Tooele. "The party was doing really well when the depot was open as government workers tend to be more Democratic."

Today, however, the local Democratic party appears to be a shadow of its former self. Poor attendance at last week's neighborhood caucus meetings -- held in five locations as opposed to Republicans' 16 locations -- was only one sign of the decline. Others include the inability to find a Democrat to run for the only countywide office on the ballot in 2008, a county commission seat, and the inability of any Democrat to unseat a Republican on the county commission for nearly eight years. Then there are the state legislative seats representing Tooele County -- 6 of 8 of which are held by Republicans.

The last Democrat to win election to a state seat representing Tooele county was Brent Goodfellow, from West Valley City, in 2006. He narrowly defeated political newcomer Christy Achziger of Stansbury Park by a 296 vote margin for the state Senate District 12 seat.

Jim Gowans is the lone state legislator from Tooele County representing the county. A lifelong Democrat, Gowans has held his seat for 16 years. He is seen by fellow legislators as a conservative Democrat -- so much so that in 2006, Jeff Hartley, executive director of the state Republican party, commented that some in the party had asked that Gowans not be targeted by Republicans.

With Gowans standing alone as the last of the Democratic rear guard, some political observers wonder where the next generation of party leaders will come from, particularly with demographics apparently not working in Democrats' favor.

"We've had our downturns," said Marianne Rutishauser-Andrus, Tooele County Democrat Party chair. "A lot of the people that have moved in recently are Republicans, which has turned the tide. But don't count us out yet."

Marilynn Gillette, a Republican serving as Tooele County Clerk, has been watching local elections for 17 years. Gillette acknowledges that in the past the Democratic Party was very strong in the county, but in the last five years as the county has grown she has noticed a pronounced shift to more Republicans.

A quick look at voter registration records in a few precincts confirms that people moving to the county appear to be more Republican. In Tooele's 11th and 12th precincts -- both in the newer part of the city north of 1000 North -- and in Overlake's 13th precinct, the number of registered Republicans prior to this year's presidential primary was 30 percent. In the older, more established Tooele 2nd, 6th, and 17th precincts, the number of registered Republicans was only 17 percent.

County Democratic Party leadership realizes that if the party is to remain viable it must recruit newcomers and younger people.

"The traditional old-time Democrats in the party are getting older, and we need to recruit new young blood," Andrus said, adding that the party used to hold monthly breakfast meetings open to anyone but discontinued the practice in 2006.

"Recruiting candidates can be hard," said Andrus. "It is expensive to run a campaign. The odds rights now favor the Republicans when it comes to fundraising. They have more business support and are able to raise more money at this time."

Andrus said she has several people interested in running for county commissioner, but none of them wanted to give up their current job to be a full-time commissioner.

"The race two years ago really hinged on the commitment to be a full-time commissioner," Andrus said.

Both White and Andrus agree that the party needs to do a better job of promoting itself. Andrus believes that the county, and the state, have been insulated from the latest economic downturn.

"Once that bubble bursts and people see the big picture, they will return to the Democratic party," Andrus said. "The Democratic party always does better at fixing the economy. That is why people liked Clinton -- despite his problems he did great with the economy."

Andrus points to younger Democrats like Toby Dillon, 31, a former county party vice-chair and candidate for state Senate District 24, as the kind of person the party has attracted and needs more of.

Dillon has his own ideas on how to revitalize his party. Aside from more family-oriented activities and service projects for county Republicans, Dillon proposes changes in the party platform.

"We need to temper the party platform on issues like abortion," said Dillon. "The party needs to accept that there are things that we can not change and focus the debate on things where we can make a difference, like taking care of the poor, homeless and needy."

Issues like protecting the environment, controlling growth, and providing health care should define the party, Dillon said.

"We don't want to be a one-note party."

tgillie@tooeletranscript.com