Incumbent legislators from both major parties have outraised and outspent challengers in a great majority of the 90 races.

In fact, fewer than a dozen incumbent legislators have raised less than their challengers, according to financial disclosure forms filed Wednesday. And most of those who have raised less actually have more to spend during the final weeks of the campaign because of previous fund-raising efforts.

The strongest challengers are actually Salt Lake County Democrats, who have four candidates who have outraised incumbent Republicans by an almost 3-to-1 margin. Additionally, two Democrats running for open seats — one currently held by a Democrat and one by a Republican — have doubled the monies raised by their Republican opponents.

For the most part, however, Republican candidates raised significantly more than their opponents throughout the state, especially in rural areas. Third-party candidates, on the other hand, have raised very little, with many of them reporting zero dollars raised or spent, particularly Libertarians.

Nine candidates missed the filing deadline and were eliminated from the ballot, including Democrat Gene Bradford, who was running against Republican Mark Madsen, and two third-party candidates to replace retiring Sen. Bill Wright, R-Elberta. Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, will have an uncontested race after her opponent, Republican Mark Spute, dropped out Wednesday.

Most impressive among challengers was the $17,195 raised by Gary Sackett, while his opponent for the eastern Salt Lake County seat in District 36, Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-Salt Lake, raised $6,642. Also on

the east side, Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights, brought in $9,250 — although she has $29,707 in the bank — only to have her opponent, Lewis Garrett, a Democrat, raise $20,357.

On the other end of the county, Jan Lovett has raised $9,415 to South Jordan Republican Marlyn Newbold's, $3,825. And in the middle of the county, former Democrat Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, raised $3,900 to Democratic challenger Charles McDowell's $8,919.

Along with mounting serious challenges to incumbents, Democrats also have well-financed candidates in open seats. In the race to replace recently resigned Rep. Morgan Philpot, R-Sandy, Democrat Laura Black has raised $17,943, more than doubling Republican Mark Walker's $8,335. Farther north, Democrat Jim Hasenyager raised $20,188 and Republican Allen Christentsen $13,570 in their contest to fill the seat of retiring Sen. David Gladwell, R-Ogden.

Despite their successes, Democrats are desperately behind in Senate Distict 1, which covers northwestern Salt Lake County and was long controlled by Democrats until 2002. There, Sen. James Evans, R-Salt Lake, has raised $28,296, almost five times as much as challenger Fred Fife's $6,302. Another west-side Republican candidate, Michael Montgomery, also has been successful, raising $3,420 to Salt Lake Democrat Duane Bourdeaux's $1,750.