Fund-raising success during the summer did not continue into the fall for a number of Salt Lake County Democratic legislative candidates.

Almost a half-dozen Democrats either challenging incumbent Republicans or fighting for an open seat — including House candidates Corey Rushton, Gary Sackett and Laura Black — saw significant funding advantages dissipate since mid-September, according to financial disclosure reports filed earlier this week. In fact, only three challengers out-raised their incumbent opponents, and in many cases the incumbents, most of whom already had thousands of dollars reserved from previous campaigns, raised three or four times as much as the challenger.

Most successful among the challengers was Republican Richard Snelgrove, who brought in $12,801 to fund his challenge of Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake, in House District 28, which covers eastern Salt Lake City. McGee only raised $4,876, although she has $17,431 to spend while Snelgrove has $7,069 in a race where the two candidates have spent more than $40,000 combined.

The other two challengers who out-raised their opponents did so with much more narrow margins. Republican Michael Montgomery raised $5,434 to challenge Rep. Duane Bourdeaux, D-Salt Lake, who brought in $4,050. But Montgomery also spent $6,501, more than 10 times the amount spent by Bourdeaux in the western Salt Lake City District 23.

In the southwestern corner of Salt Lake County, Democrat Jan Lovett, who raised $7,924, continues to raise more money than Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan, who raised $6,451. Each candidate has spent more than $10,000 on their campaigns, and both have just over $3,000 plus any new donations for the final week.

One of the most expensive legislative races is on Salt Lake County's southeast side, in Senate District 8. There, Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights, raised $38,665 and spent $25,185 during the six-week reporting period, while Democrat Lewis Garrett raised $13,175 and spent $8,097. Through the entire campaign, the candidates combined have spent almost $73,000, a total that could very easily exceed $100,000 by Nov. 2 since the candidates still have more than $50,000 in their reserves.

Closely behind that race in terms of money spent is the race for sprawling Senate District 27, which covers all of four southeastern counties and part of Utah County. In that race, Sen. Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, continued to be one of the strongest fund-raisers, with $32,501 raised, while his opponent, Republican Phillip Peay, raised $11,578. Together, they have raised almost $100,000 and have spent approximately $72,000.

A number of House candidates without a major party opponent continued to seek financial infusions, much of which went to other candidates in their party or to stoke their war chests for a future campaign. Primarily, they were incumbents from both parties, a half-dozen of whom raised more than $10,000.

Some legislators who are actively seeking leadership posts donated money to many of their fellow party candidates, most notably Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Provo, a front-runner for House Majority Leader. In his first filing of the year — since nobody filed against him, he has not been required to file a report this year — Alexander reported a total of $44,200 raised during the past two years. Of that, he spent more than $30,000, with a large portion of that money being donated to fellow House members. Rep. Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, also donated to more than a dozen House members' campaign funds as part of his bid to become Speaker of the House.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com