Said Hughes on Tuesday: "The Democrats believed that (his GOP opponent) would force me into a June primary. And the charges would be filed just before the primary. When I (won the nomination outright in the Salt Lake County GOP Convention) all that talk went dark, silent, until October, when they absolutely filed it to try to defeat me in the general election."

Allen and the three Democrats who filed the complaint against Hughes steadfastly maintain — and she testified before the committee — that Lawrence didn't sign a letter making the accusations against Hughes until the end of September, "but there is no good time to file an ethics complaint," as Allen testified.

Finally, the Ethics Committee can only sanction a House member. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, testified that a person associated with Parents For Choice in Education, the pro-voucher group, in the 2007 Legislature, did offer "to help pay" for his campaign — "a lot of money," but no amount was ever mentioned — if he agreed to switch positions and favor vouchers. Ray said he declined the offer.

Asked who that person was, Ethics Chairman Todd Kiser, R-Sandy, objected to the question, saying the charge of the committee was to look into allegations against Hughes, a House member, not anyone else. And Ray declined to voluntarily say who that was.

Contacted Tuesday, Ray again declined to say who it was. "It would be my word against their word, no one else was there, and I don't want to get into that situation."

Judi Clark, executive director of Parents For Choice in Education, said she knew nothing about the Ray incident, and that such an offer, if it happened, would be wrong and not endorsed by her group. "We don't work that way. We do support those of like minds, but we don't offer help" to switch a vote.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com