One brother falters, 2 others advance

One of these Grovers is not like the others.

The campaigning is over for longtime Utah County Commissioner Jerry Grover, who fell short in his bid for a fourth term with a loss to Gary Anderson in Tuesday's Republican primary.

Then again, Grover likely will lend a hand to his younger siblings, twins Keith and Kenneth, in their respective campaigns for the Legislature.

Keith Grover, Provo, won the GOP nomination over Garr Judd in House District 61, a seat currently occupied by District 15 Senate candidate Margaret Dayton, R-Orem. He'll face Democrat Susan Chasson and Constitution Party candidate Steve Saunders in the Nov. 7 general election.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake resident Kenneth Grover is the Republican candidate in District 25 and will meet Democrat Christine Johnson for the seat being vacated by Rep. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake, who is running for the Senate.

"People thought we were becoming the Kennedys," Jerry Grover said, "but I think my race pretty much put that to rest."

Pushed to a primary for the first time as an incumbent, Jerry Grover only got 45 percent of the votes of the 28,403 Utah County residents who cast ballots.

Jerry Grover credited his opponent for running a good campaign — "(Anderson) probably ran a better campaign than I did," he said — and was in good spirits Wednesday.

"It's just an election," he said.

After filing for office in April, Keith Grover said he was a long shot to win the GOP primary in District 61. On Wednesday, he said he believes that underdog mentality helped him earn the close 4 percent victory over Judd.

"I understood that it was a huge process to try to talk to every voter," he said. "I didn't want anyone going to a touch screen and saying, 'I don't know either one of these two,' and just casting an arbitrary vote. They had to vote for me or for the other candidate."

Judd said he was proud of the way his campaign remained focused on the issues despite outside distraction.

The former legislative chairman for District 61 was the recent target of the self-proclaimed watchdog group Truth in Politics, which on its Web site (www.truthinpolitics.us) accuses him of alleged past business wrongdoings.