Click play to listen to this article.

(Utah News Connection) More than 200 staffers and aides from four previous Republican presidential nominees, including Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Diane Lewis, chair of the Utah Democratic Party, said while polling shows Utah will likely stay a historically "red" state this election cycle, things are changing. She added having Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on the ticket with Harris could appeal to some voters.

Image

"I truly believe that we are the next flip state, I really do," Lewis asserted. "I think we can do that. With the Harris and Walz team coming, Walz is a rural man. He is from the rural part of his state and so we have a lot of rural in our state. We have southern Utah, that is pretty rural, and even northern Utah is pretty rural."

Lewis pointed out contrary to popular belief, Utah is home to more Democrats than one might assume. Current voter registration numbers showed Republicans are still the largest party, with unaffiliated voters in second.

Utah voters will also make their voices heard in November with the state's gubernatorial race between Republican incumbent Governor Spencer Cox and his opponent Representative Brian King, D-Salt Lake City. Recent polls show Cox is leading King by 40 pointsand a majority of voters in the Beehive State said they approve of Cox's decision to endorse former President Trump.

Lewis argued Cox is taking the state down the wrong path.

"He tends to flip-flop, he goes wherever the wind takes him," Lewis contended. "That is what is scary about Governor Cox and what is going on in Utah."

Lewis hopes regardless of the results in November, candidates can learn to disagree and compromise again moving forward.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.