If you have been kept in the cellar too long, any ray of sunshine is a reason for hope.

Democratic victories on Tuesday — capturing Salt Lake County, knocking off the speaker of the state House, and Obama receiving 34 percent of the vote statewide — have Democrats performing a touchdown dance, even though the score remains a 50-6 blowout against them.

But it is a ray of hope and perhaps a sign that the momentum in what was the reddest of red states may be shifting.

However, here in Tooele County our Democrats should be preparing for a funeral, as the vital signs from this election point to possible terminal illness.

Jim Gowans, a Democrat and 16-year veteran of the state Legislature, barely survived reelection against first-time Republican candidate Dan Egelund. Gowans won with less than half the votes cast. Third-party candidate Jonathan Garrard received 6 percent of the vote. Had Garrard not been on the ballot, Egelund could have won if only 580 of the 783 people that voted for Garrard had touched Egelund’s name on the voting machine.

On the other side of the county in House District 1, Republican Ronda Rudd Menlove, of Garland, won her first re-election to the seat with the support of 72 percent of Tooele County voters, compared to Grantsville resident Billy Morgan, Democrat, who only received 27.8 percent in his own county.

Aside from Gowans, the Democratic party can claim one other state official that represents the county: Sen. Brent Goodfellow from West Valley City, whose district includes Stansbury Park. In 2006, Republican newcomer Christy Achziger came very close to defeating Goodfellow.

The democrats do have five officials out of 11 at the courthouse — assessor, auditor, recorder, treasurer and sheriff. But that too may be coming to an end as a new breed of Republican voters move into the county. Long gone are the days when county voters consisted of civil service workers and miner/smelter workers that largely voted the Democratic ticket.

In Tuesday’s election, 3,448 county voters went into the polls and pushed the button to cast a straight party Republican ticket. That amounts to 21 percent of the ballots cast in Tuesday’s election.

So while the state and national parties bask in the light of Obama’s victory, our local Democrats have work to do if they are to survive.

Where are the young voters that we hear about Obama motivating to come to the polls in other places? Can the local Democratic party paint themselves as the party with a vision for the future of Tooele County, taking on tough local issues like the Midvalley Highway, the importation of foreign waste, local public transportation, water rights, health care, and the use of our public lands?

It will be interesting to see how our local Democratic Party emerges from this election.

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com