Why a ballot referendum is an uphill battle in Utah

• Any bill the voters hope to challenge in a referendum has to have Republican support for the state legislature to pass in the first place.

That means successful referendum backers generally must find thousands of voters willing to challenge the GOP agenda within deep red districts.

By the numbers: Just six of Utah's 29 Senate districts are held by Democrats.

• The nine other districts where organizers met the signature thresholds are represented by Republicans — all of whom won by double-digit margins, per an Axios analysis of election results.
• Six are held by senators who voted for H.B. 267 — the state's new ban on collective bargaining for public employee unions.

Stunning stat: Signature gathering requires a degree of political organization — and yet referendum backers met the threshold in four districts where Democrats didn't even run a candidate in the most recent election.

The intrigue: Organizers said recent anti-Trump rallies were a boost for signature-gathering — countering some criticism on both the left and the right that the enormous protests were merely a performative show of dissent.

Zoom out: The petition drive may be yet another example of a nationwide trend where voters lean to the left on specific policies even if they support Republicans for public office.

The big picture: Utah has some of the nation's toughest rules to place a citizen initiative or referendum on the ballot.

• Red and blue states alike have lower signature thresholds — and later deadlines to collect them.