Wilson is also the second-place spender so far, having doled out $231,197, which leaves her with $114,660, a third-place savings account behind the reserves of fourth-place overall fund-raiser Ralph Becker, the current state House minority leader.

Salt Lake City Councilman Dave Buhler is in third place financially, raising $58,141 over the past two months to bring him to a total of $274,537.

Becker's total of $263,935 keeps him in fourth place, but the gap between him and third place continues to shrink over each reporting period as he attempts to make up for an initial slow start. That early delay was intentional: He vowed not to raise any money for his campaign while the Legislature was in session to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest.

The money race is just one part of the highly competitive campaign. Recent polls show the candidates stacking up differently when it comes to voter support rather than dollars raised and spent.

In a Dan Jones & Associates poll conducted July 17-19 for the Deseret Morning News, Wilson took first place with 23 percent of respondents' support when asked for whom they would vote. Buhler was in second with 19 percent, and top fund-raiser Christensen tied for third with Becker at 13 percent.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com