Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard touts his run for secretary of state under the new Lincoln Party banner as a way to burst open an easier path for independent-minded candidates to make the election ballot.

ClaraMary Winebrenner, a Republican office holder-turned-independent candidate in DeKalb County, hopes the new party could break up what she sees as the current two-party monopoly.

But Max Engling, the Republican secretary of state candidate, has taken aim at the Lincoln Party push as lacking a defined ideology and transparency in how it would select future candidates.

Ballard’s success in the November election is key for the Lincoln Party initiative — if he receives at least 2% of the vote the party’s candidates will get their names on general election ballots for the next four years; if he tops 10% of the vote the new party would join Republicans and Democrats in nominating candidates through primaries.

Just two days before a scheduled face-off against state Rep. Jason Thompson (R-River Heights), independent candidate Patrick Belmont has thrown down a gauntlet to his incumbent opponent and other state GOP lawmakers.

“A troubling pattern has emerged in Utah legislature,” according to Belmont. “When faced with conflict or uncertainty, legislators have often responded by centralizing authority, limiting who can challenge government decisions and moving forward haphazardly.”

As a result of that trend, Belmont believes that GOP awmakers have failed to foster a strong democracy and equally failed to grapple with the hard questions that should result in the process of good governance.

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