Fund raising heats up

The price tag for legislative races continues to rise, with one GOP candidate raising more than $145,000 in the race for a state Senate seat — nearly seven times as much as his Democratic opponent.

Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, is running against Democrat Trisha Beck for the seat held by former Senate President Al Mansell. Mansell, a Republican, did not seek re-election and stepped down after the GOP primary so Niederhauser could be appointed to the seat.

In candidate financial disclosure reports due Friday, Niederhauser had collected more than $145,000, including some $61,000 since just before he won the June primary. Niederhauser, a certified public accountant, has contributed $84,000 of his own money to his campaign.

His Democratic opponent, however, reported raising more than $21,000 in contributions through the deadline. Beck, a homemaker who served six years in the state House, did not contribute cash to her own race.

Niederhauser said he was surprised at the amount his opponent had raised. "We expected it to be more formidable than that," he said, more in line with the cost of the battles he waged to make it through the Salt Lake County Republican Convention and the GOP primary.

But there's still more than six weeks to go before the November general election. "It's still early in the race," Niederhauser said. "We'll be aggressively fund-raising because we expect this to be equally as hard as the primary."

Beck said she'll continue raising money, too, but questioned why her opponent was spending so much. "That is a lot of money for a less than $10,000-a-year job," she said. "I just look at it and go, 'Wow."'

She said she will compete by out-campaigning her opponent, including knocking on more doors in her district. "I don't think you have to spend those kind of dollars to buy votes," Beck said. "I think you can work hard."

Open seats in the House also have attracted plenty of attention to candidates from both parties, especially those running in Salt Lake County.

Both of the candidates looking to replace Rep. Pat Jones, D-Salt Lake in District 40, have raised more than $10,000, with Republican Duane Millard, having more than $16,678, outpacing Democrat Lynn Hemingway, who brought in $12,955.

Another House seat seen as imperative for minority Democrats to hold is District 46, where Rep. Karen Morgan, D-Salt Lake, is seeking her fifth term. She only raised $6,775, however, while her Republican challenger, Robyn Bagley, had contributions totaling $14,838.