Utah vote: few surprises

The morning after the general election, Utah's political landscape appears pretty much as it did prior to Tuesday's vote. President Bush handily carried the state and, with the exception of incumbent Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, incumbent Republicans readily won re-election.

Overall, early election results largely mirrored public opinion polls conducted prior to Tuesday's vote. They suggest Utahns wholeheartedly endorsed the ZAP tax and they want more resources funneled into open-space acquisition. Not surprisingly, a majority of Utahns defended the institution of traditional marriage. Similar constitutional changes were on the ballot in 10 other states, with the vast majority of them passing, but exit polls suggest the margin of victory in Utah may have been lowest of all of them. Many political observers believe the next step with this issue will be a new spate of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the respective amendments.

Only the Salt Lake County mayor's race was considered too close to call at press time. Republican Ellis Ivory, who had to petition to get his name on the ballot following the withdrawal of incumbent Nancy Workman, was in a dead heat with Democrat Peter Corroon.

Exit polls and early returns showed Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. well ahead of Democratic challenger Scott Matheson Jr. in the race for governor. Matheson conceded the race less than two hours after the polls closed. Many Utahns had hoped for an aggressive race to the wire, but Huntsman and Matheson traveled the high road. While commendable, it did not result in the lively contest many believed a wide-open race between two high-profile candidates could have produced.

Now, Huntsman, a moderate, will have to learn to deal with a Legislature that tends to be more conservative than mainstream Utahns.

Sen. Bob Bennett, whose light-hearted campaign billboards brought much-needed levity to the election season, will return to Washington for his third six-year term after soundly drubbing Democratic challenger Paul Van Dam.

Utahns re-elected incumbent members of Congress, with Republican Reps. Rob Bishop and Chris Cannon defeating their Democratic challengers in the 1st and 3rd congressional districts by large margins. Democrat Matheson, whose 2002 race against Republican John Swallow in 2002 was a squeaker, won handily over Swallow in a repeat. The 2nd District race was marred by a barrage of ugly mailings and broadcast advertisements produced by the National Republican Congressional Committee on Swallow's behalf. Matheson's victory demonstrates that Utahns will back a Democrat they feel comfortable with and that Utahns balk at negative campaigning.

Although Tuesday night was all about the winners, every person who ran for office deserves our respect and thanks. Their sacrifice of time, income and privacy ensures that voters have a choice on Election Day.

Utah voters can consider themselves winners, regardless of the election outcome. Voter turnout was huge, with 85 percent of registered voters turning out to the polls Tuesday, according to pollsters' estimates. Voters are to be commended for their interest and involvement in the political process.