Shurtleff dinner raises $140,000

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff collected pledges totaling about $140,000 at his annual Law Day fund-raiser held this week — a record amount for the second-term Republican.

"We were very pleased with the turnout," Shurtleff said Thursday. He said the event's keynote speaker, controversial former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, attracted a number of new donors.

Among the 500 contributors attending the dinner held Wednesday were a number of lawmakers, Shurtleff said, including opponents of the Utah attorney general's stand against Amendment 3.

Shurtleff had angered conservatives last year by criticizing the anti-gay marriage amendment as "bad law." Voters approved the amendment, and also re-elected the attorney general.

About $40,000 of the contributions from the fund-raiser will go towards retiring campaign debt, Shurtleff said. He has yet to announce whether he will seek a third term or another office when he's up for re-election again in 2008.