Calls to other longtime Provo politicos confirmed that the Billings dinner was unprecedented, an indication, Wing said, that business people in the city want another Billings term.

On Thursday, the Utah County Board of Realtors endorsed Billings.

Wing is the owner of Wing Enterprises, which makes the Little Giant Ladder System. Wing moved the company from Springville to Provo earlier this year because of incentives offered by city officials. Those incentives included a deferred payment plan for the purchase of city property in the Mountain Vista Business Center, formerly known as Ironton.

The company will have 10 years, interest-free, to pay the $2.4 million tab.

Wing started to plan the fund-raiser in late September but asked Billings much earlier what he could do to help.

"I talked to Lewis way back in March and told him he had a heckuva race ahead," Wing said. "Last time he kind of squeaked by. I think Lewis should be somewhere on the state level. I think he's good enough, competent enough and hard-working enough to do that, but he said he'd like one more term."

Expensive as it appears, Provo's race still won't be nearly as expensive as the mayoral race in Salt Lake City, where Mayor Rocky Anderson and challenger Frank Pignanelli combined to spend $1.15 million in 2003.

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E-mail: twalch@desnews.com