3 incumbents lose in Legislature

"Statistically, they were races we had a chance at winning," Dunn said. "But it's very difficult when you're running in a year where (Bush) gets 70 percent of the vote."

In the House, the 58-17 majority enjoyed by Republicans will stay the same, as each party lost an incumbent.

The biggest surprise may have been the loss by Rep. Chad Bennion, R-Murray, to Democrat Tim Cosgrove, as much for the margin of victory as for the loss itself. While the two were separated by only a few dozen votes in 2002, they were separated by a baker's dozen in percentage points this year, as Cosgrove won 55 percent to 42 percent.

Republican's toeing the party line probably also played a role in the victory of Menlove over Anderson, who has represented his heavily Republican district since 1992.

Republicans nearly pulled off the biggest upset of the night with a defeat of House Minority Leader Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley, who defeated Republican Phillip Conder by only 206 votes in District 29. Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake, narrowly defeated Republican Richard Snelgrove by 487 votes.

Democrats fell short in bids to unseat other prominent Republicans, as Corey Rushton lost to Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, by 260 votes in District 32. House Majority Leader Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, also survived a closer-than-expected race, as he defeated Democrat Jay Seegmiller 52-46.

Although the Legislature loses one of only two blacks with the defeat of Evans, the House will become slightly more diverse with the election of two Hispanic Democrats, Ross Romero and Mark Wheatley, and an Asian-American Republican, Curtis Oda. All told, there are four minority legislators.

One candidate who may have benefitted from last-minute dirty campaign tactics was was Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, D-Holladay, who trounced Republican Brice Carsno by 35 percentage points. Late last week, Carsno challenged the residency of more than 1,500 voters in District 37, most of which were Democrats. The challenge was rejected by Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen, who is consulting with authorities over whether Carsno should face federal criminal charges of intimidating voters.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com