Witt received nearly half of his $4,300 in contributions from Parents For Choice in Education, a political action committee whose goal is tuition tax credits for private-schooled children.

Holdaway said after his victory: "People in my district just don't want to see public money going to private schools." That could be the result of a school voucher system, critics claim.

"We aren't like Utah County," said Holdaway.

Indeed.

Cox, along with Holdaway and a dozen other House moderate Republicans, have for half a dozen legislatures voted with Democrats to hold off attempts to give personal income tax credits or vouchers to the parents of children who attend private schools.

Sumsion's pre-convention campaign finance report shows he accepted $2,000, just under a third of his total donations, from Parents For Choice in Education.

Cox, a Lehi schoolteacher, may have also angered some conservatives in his district by his repeated attempts to make it easier for school district patrons to split up large, growing districts into smaller districts.

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