And while all say they are campaigning throughout the city, the truth is the two finalists' victories in the primary could well be due to a combination of political party affiliation and geography.

Becker, D-Salt Lake, represents in the Utah House parts of Capitol Hill and the Avenues. He has gotten as many as 9,000 votes in his legislative district. And in recent years, the highest mayoral primary winner has gotten just under 6,000 votes, the primary turnout being so poor.

Buhler is in the same geographic situation. In his District 6 he received more than 70 percent of the vote in his last election.

Wilson holds a countywide seat, meaning her name was on all ballots in Salt Lake City in her last election. Wilson recently told me she has not examined her countywide vote tally for Salt Lake City, adding: "This (mayoral race) is so different from my County Council race that (her previous vote tallies) don't mean much."

Christensen, who just changed his official voter registration from Republican to Independent, does not do remarkably well in his old west side City Council seat, points out Jones.

But Christensen is a strong fund-raiser and is lining up considerable business support within the city. (Business support is good for raising money, but it doesn't necessarily translate into votes, since many business owners/leaders with headquarters in the city may actually live in the suburbs and not be able to vote in the mayor's race.)

Politically speaking, the consensus remains that at least one, maybe two, Democrats come out of the Sept. 11 primary. And the stronger Democrat would likely win the post in November.

After all, Jones found in his latest survey that 40 percent of likely voters said they would favor a Democratic mayoral candidate. Only 28 percent said they would like the GOP candidate. Jones found that 27 percent said the party of the candidate didn't matter to them.

Salt Lakers have not elected a Republican mayor since Jake Garn won in 1971.

The Salt Lake mayor's race is the premier contest this year. Keep watching for some fireworks.

---

Deseret Morning News political editor Bob Bernick Jr. may be reached by e-mail at bbjr@desnews.com