GOP in control of Legislature

Both Republicans and Democrats hoped for some upsets in Tuesday's state legislative races, but in the end the GOP continued to control both the House and the Senate.

That's not a surprise, of course. Although nationally, Democrats were expected to make significant Election Day gains in Congress, nobody was looking for the balance of power to shift on Utah's Capitol Hill.

"Utahns tend not be swayed easily," said Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, who appeared to be headed toward a win late Tuesday. "If there's a clear reason to change, they will. Right now, the economy is going well. ... People are voting with their pocketbooks."

Bigelow, who serves as the House budget chairman, and House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, were two of the six members of the House targeted by Utah Democrats. Curtis won by just 46 votes over Democrat Jay Seegmiller.

The other Republicans on the Democrats' hit list were Reps. Susan Lawrence of East Millcreek, Mark Walker of Sandy and Steve Mascaro of West Jordan, as well the open seat in District 53 in Kamas and Park City that also had been held by a member of the GOP.

Republicans targeted Democratic Senate seats held by Sens. Gene Davis of Salt Lake and Brent Goodfellow of West Valley as well as two open seats vacated by retiring Democratic Sens. Karen Hale of Salt Lake and Patrice Arent of Murray.

With nearly 65 percent of the precincts reporting in Senate District 3, Davis was ahead with more than 55 percent of the vote. "I am cautiously optimistic we're going to pull this out," Davis said.

"Utahns tend not to swayed easily," said Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley City, the House budget chairman. Bigelow won re-election with over 60 percent of the vote despite being targeted by Democrats along with Curtis and four other House members.

Other House Republicans on the Democrats' hit list who were expected to be re-elected Tuesday were Reps. Mark Walker of Sandy and Steve Mascaro of West Jordan. And a Republican, former House Speaker Mel Brown, appeared to pick up an open seat in District 53, which includes Kamas and Park City.

But Democrat Phil Riesen did win the seat held by Rep. Susan Lawrence, R-East Millcreek, and Democrats appeared to hold onto the four state Senate seats targeted by the GOP despite some close races.

Democratic Sens. Brent Goodfellow and Gene Davis should be returning, joined by Pat Jones and Ross Romero, two Salt Lake-area representatives who won open seats that had been held by Democrats.