It used to be that gubernatorial candidates raised the most cash in Utah state races. But House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, who won in 2006 by just 20 votes and faces a tough re-election battle again, has really been beating the bushes the past few years. Between his PAC and campaign account, Curtis has around $365,000 in cash, filings show.

A number of Senate and House Republicans who voted for the controversial private school voucher bill in the 2007 Legislature found themselves on the wrong side of that vote in last November's voucher referendum. One of those is Curtis, who championed vouchers in 2007 only to find his District 49 constituents in southeast Salt Lake County voting against vouchers 62-38 percent, a tabulation by the Utah Education Association shows.

Curtis got nearly $5,500 this June in an in-kind donation, in the form of voter lists and telephoning, from the main pro-voucher PAC, Parents For Choice in Education. Clearly he will try to get those pro-voucher people (the 38 percent in his district) out to vote for him in two months.

Curtis said he's raising extra funds — he won't spend anywhere near all of it on his race this year — to run for higher office some day. "A lot of people are looking at the governor's race in 2012. I'm younger than they are, so I can be patient" and pick a race he really likes down the road, the speaker said.

Curtis, who seeks another term as speaker from his GOP caucus, said he will likely give other House Republican candidates around $25,000 out of his PAC.

Leaders in both parties often help out their party incumbents or likely winners in the hopes that they, in turn, will vote for them in leadership races held just after the November general election.

Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, is not that far behind Curtis in fundraising. Valentine, who did not have a serious challenger this year, neither within nor outside his Republican Party, has $166,000 in cash on hand, his campaign filing showed. Unlike Curtis, Valentine doesn't have a PAC under just his name, although he helps raise money for a Utah County political PAC.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, also has a tough re-election fight this year. Buttars made headlines during the 2008 Legislature when he called a school board bill a dark, ugly baby — leading some to say he made a racist comment. The Salt Lake chapter of the NAACP called for Buttars to resign. Buttars denied his comment was racist, apologized, and filed for re-election.

Buttars' political problems are reflected in his fundraising, where he has gotten most of his money from fellow GOP senators and/or PACs. He's raised $27,380, spent $66,196 through a tough convention fight, and still has $38,160 in cash, the report shows.