House District 37 — Carol Spackman Moss vs. Sandy Thackeray. Through her 32-year career as a beloved teacher, Moss has taught many of the residents in this Holladay Millcreek area — a powerful political asset. In addition, Moss is a fearsome campaigner in the traditional door-to-door style. Her Republican opponent, Thackeray, is well-known from her service on the Holladay City Council and started her campaign early. The school choice organization Parents for Choice in Education has targeted the race and is infusing its traditional aggressive tactics in behalf of Thackeray. This promises to be a tough battle until the end.

We also asked the two state party executive directors, Todd Taylor for the Democrats and Jeff Hartley for the Republicans, to make their predictions about the overall outcome of the legislative races.

Hartley is optimistic, predicting a Republican pickup of seven seats in the House and three in the Senate, "reserving the right to amend our prediction upward as Election Day approaches." The Republican brain trust has a "watch list" of 11 House races and six Senate races that it is vigorously contesting to retain or pick up.

Hartley said he was asked by a newspaper reporter if the GOP, holding two-thirds majorities, doesn't already have a big enough presence in the Legislature. "It's not about world domination for us, it's about having better representatives for the voters in these districts," he said. "We have good people emerging as great candidates who would serve their constituents very well."

Taylor was a little more circumspect: "I'm not a bookie or odds maker. One of my favorite cliches is, 'He who lives by the crystal ball eats ground glass."' But given the national political scene, the climate for Democrats may be the best in Utah since 1990, he said.

Still, with six of eight Democratic Senate seats up for re-election and two Senate incumbents retiring, "We are pushing uphill," Taylor said. "Unfortunately, this leaves us playing defense in a year when we should be able to seek solid gains. The wind at our backs should help us defend what we currently have and make us competitive in a few more seats — perhaps as many as four. Personally, I'd like to see at least a gain of two to bring us up over the magic one-third. ..."

Taylor sees more opportunities for gains in the House, but he must also defend five open seats. "I'd like to see a gain of six to bring us to one-third, but that is a very tall order. ... We have enough 'hard worker' candidates to give us reason for hope."

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Republican LaVarr Webb was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. He now is a political consultant and lobbyist. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. A former candidate for Salt Lake mayor, he served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. Pignanelli's spouse, D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, is a Utah state tax commissioner. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.