Utah certainly will be the reddest state in this year’s presidential vote and the GOP will still have its strong grip on state government but a rapidly growing organization of state Democratic lawyers is capitalizing upon the potentially momentous coattails of a solid Obama electoral mandate to begin a multi-faceted project that eventually will tip the legislative balance toward partisan equity.

In just three months, the Utah Democratic Lawyers Council has attracted 200 members, and that number will likely balloon dramatically by January — perhaps by 50 percent or more — when the new state legislature convenes, according to Jeffrey Eisenberg, UDLC president.

In the short term, the group believes that the recent spate of ethics scandals suggests a timely opportunity — “a game-changing moment,” as Eisenberg calls it — to enact new ethics laws in the 2009 legislative session. In the medium term, the group is focused on redistricting efforts that will follow in 2011 after the census and the midterm elections. And, in the longer term, the intent is to chip away at the GOP’s long-standing super-majority in both chambers, currently large enough to override vetoes and deflect meaningful bipartisan legislative compromises.

The phased game plan was immediately evident in the UDLC’s October forum held last night at the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics. Eisenberg presided in the panel discussion which featured Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, State Senators Scott McCoy and Ross Romero, and Patrice Arent, a former state legislator who now sits on the Democratic National Committee.

Indeed, at various local levels in Utah, Democrats are poised to have their best election in recent years. Corroon’s recent poll numbers in his re-election bid are impressive as he leads his opponent (Michael Renckert) by more than 30 points. There is a realistic probability that the county council could have a Democratic majority although incumbent Randy Horiuchi is in a competitive campaign with recent polls having him down within the margin of error against Steven DeBry.

Things look promising at the state level, even in 2008. McCoy believes that the Democrats could pick up three seats in the 29-seat state senate, enough to thwart the two-thirds majority needed to override vetoes. In the 75-member House, the Republicans currently hold a 55-20 edge but the Democrats could pick up eight seats in the new assembly, according to McCoy.

The timing looks solid for pursuing ethics reform. Public attention on recent ethics scandals involving state legislators has exposed the folly of elected officials trying to police themselves. In fact, Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., also running for re-election, indicated two weeks ago that he supports a bipartisan group to pursue ethics reform. In the last legislative session, a proposal to create an independent ethics commission died without even a hearing.

In effect, the UDLC believes statewide ethics reform must have four elements: an independent nonpartisan ethics commission, a ban on all gifts valued above a nominal level of five dollars, a comprehensive prohibition on using campaign funds for personal expenses, and strict enforcement of a one-year cooling-off period for former legislators who seek to become lobbyists.

The challenge of bringing equity to the redistricting process is far more complex, the panelists agreed. Utah’s recent history in this area hardly demonstrates good civics practices, McCoy explains. “It has been a purposeful manipulation,” he says. “Instead of competitive districts and robust debate, we see elected representatives choosing which voters they want.”

In addition to consolidating the already entrenched GOP control, the last redistricting plan seemed intent on driving the lone Democratic member of the state’s Congressional delegation out of office. Fortunately, Jim Matheson’s re-election is assured this time around as Congressional Quarterly electoral projection experts call his race “safe Democrat.” At the state level, redistricting led to strangely gerrymandered districts that pulled together disparate areas such as Tooele and Brigham City.

Arent, noting that the state constitution simply indicates that the legislature is charged with redistricting and leaves it at that, says few if any criteria drive the process. Arent, whose Holladay district disappeared in 2001, and the others acknowledge that demographic and geographic realities make it exceedingly difficult — if not impossible — to draw districts not influenced by political considerations. Therefore, the panelists — along with several in the audience — suggest that an independent nonpartisan redistricting board would help to reduce the perceptions of exaggerated gerrymandering opportunities.

As well the panelists signal the corrective for redistricting that best serves the public and their communities is to redraw the districts in a way that doesn’t subordinate the public interests to any incumbent, regardless of partisan identification.

On the other hand, there also should be a sense of bipartisan equity, the still-fresh reminder of recent redrawn district maps in anticipation of a now-delayed fourth House congressional seat for Utah. In 2006, 43 percent of Utah voters cast their ballots for Democrats. Therefore, the revised map was drawn to satisfy the concerns of Democrats in protecting Matheson’s seat and of Republican goals for a congressional district that leans toward their partisan interests. Or else, one or the other party would block the plan. Given the state’s rapid rate of population growth, Utah will get a fourth seat after the 2010 census and may even qualify for a fifth seat so therefore the status quo will hardly do service and redistricting reform is a must for 2011.

Critical to projecting a message that redistricting must be predicated on a sense of fair competition, Eisenberg and others note that the state’s redistricting reform must be a broad, complex task that will require commitments to develop content, timing, resources, research, positioning frameworks of messaging, coalition building and public outreach. Of course, what matters will be the UDLC’s capacity for creating a broad coalition to build public support for redistricting reform efforts.