He made a point of bringing up a controversy surrounding his wife Judith's potential participation in a Giuliani administration. "We had a very, very good laugh today when we saw they were suggesting she might be a Cabinet secretary," Giuliani said.

His third wife, a nurse, has no interest in politics or policy beyond educating the public on health issues. He had told Barbara Walters on ABC News' "20/20" that he was open to his wife attending Cabinet meetings.

Giuliani is the third top Republican in the race to travel to Utah to raise money. In February, Romney raised more than $1 million in Salt Lake City and St. George. Earlier this month, McCain collected more than $150,000 in Salt Lake City.

Initially, Giuliani had not scheduled any public appearances, including before the media. That changed shortly before the fund-raiser, which cost between $1,000 and $2,300 a person to attend depending on whether participants wanted a chance to chat with Giuliani.

Although he was a half-hour late for the event, Giuliani spoke with reporters and even posed for a few pictures with a few supporters, including 6-year-old Araceli Blake, whose bright pink outfit drew a smile from the candidate.

The emphasis on raising money is to be expected at this stage of the campaign.

"No candidate can afford to pass up an opportunity to raise money," said Kelly Patterson, director of Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. That's true even in Utah.

Romney holds a command- ing lead in Utah, according to a February survey for the Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV. Forty-five percent of those polled by Dan Jones & Associates said Romney was their favorite. Only 11 percent picked McCain and just 7 percent named Giuliani.

But with the November 2008 presidential election more than 1 1/2- years away, Patterson said candidates are intent on raising money and securing influential endorsements, not swaying votes.

"It's just not the public phase of the campaign," Patterson said. "For the most part, candidates really are reaching out to individuals who can endorse their ticket or give them money. That's a very narrow and small segment of the electorate."

Plus, Patterson said, Utah is a relatively small state. "Utah doesn't have a lot of delegates to add to a candidate's pot," he said. "That doesn't mean they can't see the state for another form of support other than votes."

Raising money has brought Democrats to GOP-dominated Utah before and could do so again soon.

Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party said former presidential candidate Bill Bradley slipped into the state for a quick fund-raiser during the 2000 campaign for the Democratic nomination.

So far, none of the big-name Democrats seeking the '08 nomination have come to Utah, but Taylor said both Illinois Sen. Barak Obama and former North Carolina senator John Edwards have expressed interest in making appearances here this summer.

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E-mail: lisa@desnews.com