Darby said the delegates who organized the non-Buttars meetings "already know Buttars and his stand. They wanted to spend the time getting to know us, the new candidates, what we want to do."

Darby, 38, owner of an industrial staffing firm, said he has talked to more than half of the nearly-200 delegates "and 90 percent are telling me they want a change."

Hilton, 56, a West Jordan City Council member and school district financial officer, said she doesn't know if Buttars will come out of the convention. "He does have his supporters among the delegates I've talked to," she said.

"But many delegates also want a change in the state Senate."

If any candidate wins 60 percent of their district delegates in the convention, he or she is the outright GOP nominee. If no one gets 60 percent, then the top two vote-getters go to a late June Republican Party primary. The party nominee will face Democrat John Rendell and a Constitution Party nominee in November.

Both Darby and Hilton said they are not hearing comments specifically about Buttars' baby remark in their discussions with delegates, but the undercurrent still seems to be there.

"Sen. Buttars and I are probably very close on issues. He is very conservative and so am I," Darby said. "But there are always arguments and disagreements in politics. And (Buttars) seems to take the most abrasive approach — trying to get his voice heard by being abrasive."

There are also criticisms about his voting attendance record. Challenger Armstrong pointed to a Deseret News analysis that showed Buttars was second to last in the Senate when it comes to effectiveness in passing bills this past session. He said the delegates he talks to are sending the message: "We definitely need someone new in there." But it's not solely because of the controversy surrounding him. "It's more content-based than the black baby comment," he said. "They just don't feel like the image he portrays is what they want portraying them."

Hilton said that when Buttars went into "hiding" after his stumble during the end of the 2008 session, there were a number of important votes he missed, including a vote on a school district split bill. The Jordan School District and Buttars' District 10 went through a controversial district split in 2007. And Hilton said while she didn't oppose the original school district law passed recently by the Legislature, she does oppose how the Jordan District split vote was done. She also opposed private school vouchers, while Buttars supports them. Vouchers were voted down by citizens last November.

"You can't miss votes like that," said Hilton, who is in her third term on the council. "No matter what happens, you can't run away and hide."