A rule Utah Republicans passed last year to keep last‑minute party switchers from running as “Republicans” now threatens to knock a GOP hopeful off the ballot and gift her opponent the party’s nomination in a state school board race.
In February 2025, the Utah Republican Party’s State Central Committee added a bylaw requiring anyone who wants to run under the GOP banner to be registered as a Republican for a full year before running. Delegates wrote the same language into the party constitution at the May convention.
That rule is now being used to block Trina Christensen—a Republican running for the open seat in State School Board District 8—from the Salt Lake County GOP convention next month. Christensen isn’t collecting signatures, so the convention is her only path to the ballot. If she’s not on the convention ballot, she’s out. District 8 includes parts of Kearns, Taylorsville and West Jordan.
Christensen’s campaign manager, Brian Chapman, says they first became aware of the potential problem on the last day of the 2026 legislative session. He contacted state and county party officials but didn’t learn Christensen would be excluded from the county convention until last week, after her campaign fliers were included in materials handed out at neighborhood caucus meetings.
Chapman, who has been deeply involved in Utah Republican politics for more than two decades, says he’s puzzled by the decision, especially for a party that loves to tout the convention as the gold-standard path to the ballot over signature-gathering.
“It’s baffling to me how the party is interpreting these rules,” Chapman said.
“She’s trying to be a Republican and go through the convention instead of collecting signatures. They’re slamming the door in her face instead of welcoming her with open arms.”
Chapman and Christensen say the disqualification followed a challenge from her opponent, Nicole McDermott, who is pursuing both the convention and signature routes. If the decision stands, McDermott effectively locks up the nomination. McDermott did not respond to a request for comment.
The party registration rule falls in a gray area of Utah election law. Under SB54, parties can’t keep signature-gathering candidates off the ballot, but the law is silent on convention-only candidates. Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson’s office did not respond to questions from Utah Political Watch.
Chapman says he’s continuing to plead Christensen’s case to Salt Lake County Chair Mike Carey and state Chair Rob Axson, but both have been unwilling to budge. He wouldn’t say what Christensen’s next step might be but noted she’s already sunk real money into her campaign by filing for office, hiring a campaign manager and printing materials.
“I don’t see how a party can create hurdles for candidates above or beyond what’s already in state law,” he said.
Carey and Axson did not respond to requests for comment.
The rule change sprang from a specific scenario that arose after Kera Birkeland unexpectedly resigned from the Utah Legislature in late December of 2024. Kris Campbell, the Democrat whom Birkeland had defeated in the general election a month prior, switched parties to run as a Republican in the special election to replace her. Sponsors pitched the amendment at the May convention as a way to keep opportunists from co-opting the GOP label to run for office.
“This proposal would require ‘party buy-in’ in order to run as a Republican,” sponsor Aaron Bullen wrote in a handout to delegates. “I fundamentally believe someone’s first act as a ‘Republican’ should not be to run for elected office.”
Since the Legislature passed SB54 in 2014, allowing candidates to collect signatures to reach the primary ballot, Utah Republicans have searched for ways to steer power over party nominations back to convention delegates. Just last year, they floated a rule change to strip party membership for one year from any candidate that collected signatures to get on the ballot. The proposal was yanked from the state GOP convention at the last minute.
It’s ironic, then, that the first test of Bullen’s rule may block a convention-only Republican, clearing the way for the opponent who collected signatures.
Christensen may not be alone. A review of voting records shows Salt Lake County sheriff candidate Shane Manwaring changed his affiliation from independent to Republican when he filed for office in January. Like Christensen, he is not collecting signatures. Manwaring did not respond to questions from Utah Political Watch.
