"The other guy has been working months, lining up family and friends, to run as delegates. Then he self-funds his campaign and there is no way I can outspend him in the primary race," she said. "But I'll go door to door and beat him."

Christensen, who declined to predict what will happen Saturday, held the District 48 House seat before he gave it up to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, in 2006. At that time, Andersen took over the state House seat. Christensen is challenging now to take it back, resulting in a tough in-party battle.

Christensen, a millionaire lawyer/developer, spent $540,000 of his own money in his 2006 congressional race. So far this year he's put almost $28,000 of his own money into his legislative race, more than 99 percent of what he's raised.

He said no one owns a legislative seat.

"Every two years there's an election; the people decide who is best," he said. "The great thing about being a (state) representative is that you get to know your (district) people through one-on-one contact — so let them decide."

Analysis of campaign spending showed that candidates sometimes spend their hard-won money in unusual ways.

Embattled Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan — who attracted three intra-party challengers after groups attacked him for what they said were racist comments he made in legislative debate this year — had some of the most interesting spending.

That included $7,757 for ads in the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune that apparently did not actually appear. They were to explain his comments at the Legislature, but Buttars pulled them at the last minute — so late that he still had to pay for them.

The amount he paid for non-appearing ads is more than many candidates have spent on their entire campaigns. Buttars did not return phone calls about the matter.

Buttars also spent $1,957 on furniture for his Senate office, including a clock, lamp and framed picture. He also gave $500 to the Legislature's "Third House" as a contribution for food and snacks it provides members.

In a rarity for legislative races, Buttars has paid campaign staff — paying $6,000 to Christie Achziger and $2,500 to Andrew Stephenson (the salaries amount to more than many other campaigns have spent, total, to this point).

Among other interesting spending, Glen Esplin, seeking nomination in House District 45 in Sandy, didn't start his campaign auspiciously when he reported spending $17 to pay for a "parking ticket while registering as a candidate." (The ticket actually cost 80 cents more than his candidate registration fee).

Brian Monsen, another candidate in House District 45, reported something that looks unusual at first glance: having his candidate portraits taken by Kiddie Kandids, where hopefully photographers did not need to use rattles or stuffed animals to get him to smile.

---

E-mail: lee@desnews.com, bbjr@desnews.com