Dave Buhler was back in his childhood neighborhood Saturday morning, knocking on doors and passing out campaign literature in hopes of overcoming a huge deficit in the Salt Lake City mayoral race.

The heavy underdog remained chipper and focused as he walked along 500 East, just west of Liberty Park, thrilled with the opportunity to knock on the door of the house he grew up in.

"It's been fun today," Buhler said, proudly adding that he had converted at least a few Becker backers into Buhler supporters.

"I can't talk to every voter, but I'm trying to do my part," he said.

Buhler had just learned about the latest Deseret Morning News/KSL- TV poll, which showed the two-term Salt Lake City councilman trailing state legislator Ralph Becker 53 percent to 33 percent, with 9 percent undecided.

The results were not surprising, he said.

"I've always been the underdog in this race," said Buhler, who has trailed in the polls since finishing second to Becker in the primary election.

Buhler said the latest numbers actually have energized his campaign, creating a sense of urgency to get his message out to as many voters as possible in the final days before Tuesday's election.

"I'm not focusing on polls; I'm focusing on voters," he said.

"We're doing everything we can to get our voters out."

That's Becker's focus, too, as he nears the end of the campaign trail. Though polls indicate the Democratic leader in the state House of Representatives has the Salt Lake City mayor's job all but wrapped up, Becker says he and his volunteers aren't taking anything for granted.

"(The polls) are very encouraging," he said. "Now we feel like it's of utmost importance that we get as many people out to vote as we can. We'll be concentrating our efforts between now and when the polls close to get voters to the polls."

Becker said he's been guarding against letting his supporters relax on the lead ever since a Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll listed him as a heavy favorite shortly after the primary.

"We've been working as hard as ever with an increased effort because our number of volunteers keep going up," he said. "Hopefully it will pay off on Tuesday."

Becker estimated he had between 50 and 60 volunteers campaigning door to door Saturday, and he expects about 100 helping with the campaign on Election Day.

Both candidates said they plan to campaign right up until polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Buhler, a Republican in one of Utah's few Democrat-dominated cities, said his ability to pull off an upset hinges on who shows up to vote.

"I hope that voters will look beyond labels and look at who has the experience and the track record to really do things for Salt Lake City," he said.

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com