Romney told reporters that Utah "is one of our very important states financially. It's probably among the top 10 that we hope to receive contributions from, in part from all the Olympic experience and all the associations I've had here."

The price for attending the fund-raiser was $1,000 a person, or $2,300 for access to a special VIP "pre-reception" where Romney shook hands with many of the guests and offered personal words of thanks for their help.

The larger, less intimate reception was to feature the screening of a video about Romney that included a section about his Olympic experience in Utah titled "Lord of the Rings." Both events were closed to the press, and reporters who ventured in were escorted out.

Among the many high-profile guests were Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, another Mormon who ran for president in 2000. "I supported him long before people knew he was a Mormon," Hatch said of Romney. "He's an exceptional man."

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