Other than for ninth grade student body president, Melissa Garff Ballard had never run a campaign before.
Still, when the North Salt Lake Republican launched her bid for a Utah House seat last year, she figured she’d receive enough help from her party to make up for any gaps in knowledge.
“As a new legislator," she said, “what I was expecting was that when I won the primary vote, that during the summer and for the fall, the party would have had our precinct chairs help get new volunteers or to host events or whatever it was, as well as some financial support.