GOP triumphs in Utah

But in reality, Scott Matheson fared worse against Huntsman in an open race than former Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Orton did against incumbent Gov. Mike Leavitt in 2000, and a number of Democrats were clearly expecting a closer governor's race this year.

The late Scott M. Matheson was the last Democrat to win the governorship, capturing a second term in 1980. And his oldest son fared no better than every Democratic gubernatorial candidate since.

As cordial as the governor's race was, the 2nd District contest got downright ugly at times, with Jim Matheson chiding Swallow during one debate, saying, "Do we really have to have this juvenile name calling?"

As late as Tuesday, Jim Matheson was still crying foul.

Monday, another critical mailer put out by the Utah Republican Party came to 2nd District houses, "misstating my position, again."

And Tuesday, Matheson and his aides complained that three Republican county clerks in southern Utah had endorsed Swallow in a local newspaper ad. That's true, the clerks told the Deseret Morning News, but they said they did nothing wrong. One said he would have endorsed Matheson, too, if he'd asked.

Also, in Washington County, some polling judges were apparently carbon-copying lists for GOP poll watchers of those who had voted . Those who had not yet voted could then be contacted and asked to go vote. While who has voted is public information, giving carbon copies to poll watchers was unethical, if not illegal, charged Matheson spokeswoman Alyson Heyrend.

But state election officials said the voter books are public information and there was nothing wrong with clerks making carbon copies of who had voted, as long as the copies were made available to all poll watchers.

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Contributing: Stephen Speckman, Tad Walch and Nancy Perkins; E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com