TAMPA (ABC 4 News) - Thursday night, Utah history will be made at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.
Mitt Romney will officially become the first Mormon presidential nominee of a major American party.
In doing so, Romney accomplishes something his father could not 44 years ago.
For Utahns here in Tampa, it will be an emotional moment.
Not just for them, but also for a state and, yes, for the LDS people.
Now, among the things you will see and hear from Utah's delegation Thursday night, is an ear splitting whistle from Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
He demonstrated it for us Thursday morning.
We have yet to fully recover all of our hearing.
But when other Utah's convention delegates see Mitt Romney, they see a Utah pioneer family, a BYU graduate and the man who led Utah's 2002 Olympics.
Governor Herbert told ABC 4, "Mitt Romney, as we say often, is our favorite adopted son. He feels like family and he shares the Utah heritage."
The fact that Mitt Romney is Mormon brings even more special meaning to his nomination.
It's a historic achievement for a faith which has known its share of persecution in America.
Utah Republican Chairman Thomas Wright told us, "I think it's going to be an emotional moment for a lot of people. I don't think they recognize what it's going to be like for them… I do think there will be some tears."
And when we looked for a way to explain why a Mormon presidential nominee could bring forth tears, this answer from Gayle Ruzicka seemed to sum it up well, "In Utah, we call it feeling the spirit and when you feel the spirit, it's emotional."
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