• U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, could well lose his 3rd District seat to a challenging Republican. Despite being one of the most conservative members of Congress, Cannon has had legitimate intra-party challengers his last several elections.

• Former Olympic boss Mitt Romney will sweep the Feb. 5 GOP presidential primary here. Even if Romney, a member of the LDS Church, drops out of the race before the "Super Tuesday" vote, he could still win in Utah, which basically considers Romney a favorite son candidate.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., could win on the Democratic side. But look for Utahns voting in the GOP primary to outnumber Democrats two-to-one or more.

• The Utah Legislature will stay Republican by large margins. House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, won re-election in 2006 by a scant 20 votes. But Curtis has a huge war chest (saving most of it for some future statewide or congressional race), and he'll spend some of it and campaign harder this time around. Curtis wins.

• Newly installed Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, the former minority leader in the Utah House, will get off to a fine start in succeeding Anderson. Becker is a policy wonk and won't bring the trial attorney feistiness that Rocky brought to the office.

Fences will be mended with the GOP-controlled Legislature; the rhetoric toned down considerably. Becker may even talk to City Hall reporters, not ban them from his office as Rocky did routinely.

For all the changes that 2008 should bring to Utah, politically speaking we'll just keep on chugging along — a very red Mountain West state with a growing economy, more and more kids to educate and an aging population to care for.

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