What a difference a month makes.

One month ago, Jim Winder was down 30 points in the polls in his quest to unseat incumbent Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard. Now Winder believes victory is in sight, with a 7-point lead over the incumbent sheriff, according to a new Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll.

In one month, Kennard, a Republican, dropped 20 points, while Winder, a Democrat, gained 17. Pollster Dan Jones attributed the shift to a "very aggressive and very well-planned race" by the Winder campaign.

"I think that there are many people who feel the Democrats are energized and they have a chance," Jones said. He emphasized that the poll results do not predict the actual vote on Tuesday. The poll numbers merely represent what voters thought as of Thursday, when he finished talking to registered voters.

The dip could also reflect recent criticism of Kennard's golf habit. The sheriff's summer scores were posted on the Utah Golf Association Web site, and showed he played several rounds during normal work hours.

Winder said all that golf hindered Kennard's job performance, and proved Kennard is "out of touch" and away from the office too much. Kennard is unapologetic, and said he gets a lot of work done on the golf course, as he always carries his cell phone, pager and radio in case of emergency.

"I can tell you if I'm going to do business with and trust an individual in four hours on a golf course, wherein you will never know what kind of individual that individual would be in a week or two of dealing with them" in another setting, he said.

Kennard said he knew the race would be close and he expects a battle to the bitter end.

The poll, conducted Oct. 27 through Nov. 2 by Dan Jones & Associates, surveyed 501 county voters and has a 4.4 percent margin of error.

The race for Salt Lake County district attorney is an entirely different story.

Neither candidate has pulled substantially ahead throughout the race. The latest poll shows 41 percent of those polled supporting Republican Lohra Miller, while Democrat Sim Gill brought in 38 percent. However, the poll's margin of error and the undecided 14 percent indicates the race could swing either way.

"It's a dead heat," Jones said. "It's really too close to call."

Both campaigns have been tainted by allegations of illegal campaign contributions, with Miller taking the brunt of the heat for allegedly receiving coerced third-hand contributions. After a short preliminary investigation, a team of prosecutors from the offices of the district attorney and Utah Attorney General said Miller didn't break the law. Gill was criticized for not listing both occupation and employer on his financial contribution reports, a violation of county ordinance.