1/3 of lawmakers facing a contest in own parties

Out of 90 legislative contests this year, only nine Utah House members and two state senators didn't sign up for re-election.

And while the freshman class of 2005 could be the smallest in 20 or 30 years — depending on convention, primary and final election results — it's clear that incumbent Republicans who are running again have some dissatisfied GOP constituents. A third of GOP senators and 38 percent of GOP House members seeking re-election have intra-party challengers.

Four of 12 GOP senators seeking re-election had fellow Republicans file against them, including one senator being challenged by a fellow Republican House member he calls a friend.

And 19 of the 49 GOP House members also face intra-party challengers. Rep. Don Bush, R-Clearfield, has three Republicans running against him. Reps. Jim Ferrin, R-0rem, and Dave Hogue, R-Riverton, have two GOP challengers each.

Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, has three Democratic opponents. She is the only incumbent Democrat seeking re-election challenged from within her own party.

It's unclear exactly why so many House and Senate incumbents have opposition from within their own party.

During each of the past two years, Bush has run a controversial resolution asking Congress to get the United States out of the United Nations. Bush is 80 years old, but he said at the end of the 2004 session that he feels good and believes he can still contribute.

Ferrin has carried a handful of controversial bills, including this year's tuition tax credits for parents with children in private schools (usually a winner with conservatives, opposed by some moderate Republicans.) But Ferrin also co-sponsored a 2003 hate crimes bill and has stood up for compassion for gays and lesbians.

Hogue ran unopposed in 2002. But he, too, has taken some moderate stands over the past two years, which could have angered some on his party's right wing. One of his challengers is former GOP state Sen. Brent Richards.

And Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, will have two Republican challengers. Buttars has been a sponsor of tuition tax credit bills, as well as bills banning gay marriages. He is viewed as one of the most conservative members of the predominantly conservative Senate.

Biskupski is the only openly gay member of the Legislature. In the 2004 session, she made several impassioned pleas to her colleagues not to adopt bills and constitutional amendments that would ban same-sex marriages. They didn't listen to her, and both measures passed.