Scott Sommerdorf  |  The Salt Lake Tribune             
After midnight, Utah Governor Gary Herbert thanks the Representatives for their work as the Legidlators ended the 2012 session in the Utah House of Representatives, Thursday, March 8, 2012.

Utah Democrats cross party lines to have political impact

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — They support police reform, LGBTQ rights and Medicaid expansion. But in heavily conservative Utah, thousands of liberal-leaning voters are registering as Republicans. It’s a step they say is the only way for them to have a political voice in a key election next week. The June 30 primary will decide the Republican nominee for the first open governor’s race in more than a decade in a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic governor in over four decades. Utah’s outnumbered Democrats say they’ve found things to like in the GOP candidates for governor as President Donald Trump plays to an arch-conservative base on the national level.