With only one day remaining for election filings, it appears that neither major political party will field a full slate of candidates in state races.

Democrats, in fact, may leave as many as 20 seats in the Utah House uncontested, although Todd Taylor, the state party's executive director, said that almost all of them are in very conservative districts that Democrats would be hard-pressed to win. That is especially true in Utah County, where only two Democrats have filed to run for a House seat, and one of those is in District 61, which is open because of Rep. Margaret Dayton's, R-Orem, decision to run for the Senate.

Still, Taylor said the party is not disappointed because overall, "we have a record number of candidates for the last 10 years." Some districts have multiple Democratic candidates, something which party officials are not discouraging, and they expect even more before today's 5 p.m. filing deadline.

"We feel like we've got a good slate," Taylor said. "It's clearly a new generation of candidates, and voters should be excited."

Though not lacking as many candidates as the Democrats, Republicans still have four House districts to find candidates in, although at least one of those — District 69, which covers four eastern Utah counties — will probably remain without a Republican, said Phil Kern, the Utah Republican Party executive director. Eastern Utah is one of the few strongholds for Democrats, especially with Rep. Brad King, D-Price, running for a sixth term.

"I wouldn't be surprised if nobody ran" against King, Kern said. "It's practically impossible to win as a Republican there."

Surprisingly, the Republicans are also still looking for challengers in three Salt Lake County House districts, including District 44, which is primarily in Murray. There, Rep. Tim Cosgrove, D-Murray, is running for a second term after narrowly defeating Chad Bennion two years ago.

Kern said that the county parties are primarily responsible for candidate recruitment, although he had heard that a lot of work was being done to find a challenger for Cosgrove, as well as House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, and Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake. They also lack a candidate in District 25, which is being vacated by Rep. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, who is running for the Senate.

Romero filed earlier this week for the seat, and he will compete against four other Democrats, including former Rep. Ty McCartney. His decision to run has also opened the floodgates for Democrats in his district, where five candidates have so far declared.

Other incumbents are waiting until the last moments to make — or at least formally announce — their plans. Thursday, Rep. Ann Hardy, R-Bountiful, said she is not running for re-election, while LaWanna Shurtliff, D-Ogden, filed to run for a fifth term. Sen. Al Mansell, R-Sandy, Rep. Joe Murray, R-Ogden, and Rep. Dave Hogue, R-Riverton, have not yet made a decision.

In Mansell's District 9, Republicans Wayne Niederhauser and Marc Puckett have both filed, as well as Democrats Jennifer Jackson and former Rep. Trisha Beck. The district covers parts of southeastern Salt Lake County.

---

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com