ALAN CHOATE - Daily Herald
Bryan Horn, the former president of the UVSC College Republicans, was working for a Democratic congressional candidate in the last election cycle. One night while putting out campaign signs, he saw other placards that read, "Vote your values. Vote Republican."
Those signs were ubiquitous by election day. And as Horn talked to people on behalf of his candidate, someone asked him, "Aren't you very offended by those signs?"
And he was, Horn responded: "I said, 'Actually, yes.' "
That began a process that culminates Saturday with an announcement that Horn, 25, will seek a seat in the Utah House of Representatives next year -- running as a Democrat.
"My mind had been made up during the '06 general (election)," he said. The Republican Party "is not the party that I love, that I'm used to."
Horn plans to challenge state Rep. Craig Frank, R-Pleasant Grove, for the District 57 seat Frank's held since 2003.
In doing so, he faces the uphill fight shared by all Democratic candidates who try to attract voters in Utah County, which consistently polls strongly Republican.
That's why he's starting so early.
"I'm just getting that head start so I can knock on all the doors," Horn said. "You've got to have the name recognition. I know my name is sort of out there. ... But among the general population, they wouldn't know me from a hole in the ground."
Frank was appointed to the seat and was unopposed for re-election in 2004 and 2006. While Horn's kickoff "seems a little premature," Frank said, he welcomes having a challenger.
"I've encouraged a couple of other people to run against me in the past," he said. "It's good for the process. Hopefully, this will bring more people out."
Still, he noted that only a small percentage of voters in his district are Democrats: "It seems to pose little threat."
Horn has been in the public eye a little bit in the four years he's lived in Utah.
In 2005, Horn helped organize a "Protect the Pledge" rally at Utah Valley State College that featured Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and several GOP lawmakers from Utah County. It was in protest of a court ruling saying the addition of the words "under God" turned the Pledge of Allegiance into a religious statement that ran afoul of the constitutional ban on government promotion of a certain religion.
He also worked on the GOP congressional campaign of John Jacob. It was only after Jacob lost the Republican primary last year that Horn when to work for a Democratic candidate.
Though he does have differences on specific issues with Frank, Horn also said he wants to challenge the idea that Republicans will always win in Utah County.
He understands the roots of that belief firsthand.
"I unfortunately fell into the trap that so many do, that you can't be a good Mormon if you're in another party," Horn said. "The GOP here for some reason has instilled this fear in citizens that if you don't vote Republican, you will lose your job, you will lose your church calling, you will lose your family.
"I would like someone to explain why. The glorious thing about our country is that we have a multiparty system."
Horn said school vouchers are "so wrong for Utah" and predicted that voters will reject the proposed program at the polls later this year. He also said he favors legislation that would recognize and protect domestic partnerships.
"I don't think there's any Republican in the state who's even close to supporting on this issue," he said.
Frank, meanwhile, labels himself a supporter of school vouchers "and any other choice mechanism." He voted in favor of both the voucher bills that passed the Legislature earlier this year.
He also said he'd oppose recognition of domestic partnerships: "I'm a staunch supporter of the conservative principles of the traditional family."
Bryan Horn campaign announcement
7 p.m. Saturday
Cascade Social Center
800 North in Orem near the mouth of Provo Canyon
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.
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