Web sites dish dirt on Curtis, Seegmiller

Law enforcement officials are always warning kids to watch out where they follow links on the Internet — it could lead them to places they don't want to be.

The same can now be said about at least some Utah political races — you may end up getting to somewhere on the Web you didn't expect.

Click on speakercurtis.com or JaySeegmiller.org and you don't end up on Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis' Web site or on the Web site of his Democratic opponent in House District 49, Jay Seegmiller.

The first takes you to an anti-Curtis site sponsored by the Utah Democratic Party, the second to a Salt Lake County GOP site put up against Seegmiller.

Curtis' real Web site is curtis2008.com. Seegmiller's real Web site is jayseegmiller.com.

The Utah Democratic Party's site on Curtis has an unflattering picture of Curtis with the headline: "Friend of business, lobbyists, developers and special interests." The site then has links to newspaper and TV media stories that include references to Curtis, who beat Seegmiller by just 20 votes in 2006.

Executive Director Todd Taylor said the party wanted "people to read what the media said about the speaker."

The GOP Seegmiller site mainly refers to a candidate questionnaire Seegmiller filled out in that 2006 race, with the Republicans' comments about some of those answers.

Curtis says this is the first year he's had a Web site. And he regrets that Democrats are "once again just attacking me as a person. Jay and I actually don't disagree so much on the issues — but I've been an active leader and there have been some attacks on me in negative (media) stories. I wish we could just talk about the issues," Curtis said.

Seegmiller says while he doesn't like the fact that county Republicans put up a Web site so similar to his own, what really bothers him is what is on that site and now coming out in GOP mailers about him to District 49 voters.

Using a questionnaire Seegmiller filled out two years ago for Project Vote Smart, GOP officials hint that Seegmiller is in favor of not letting parents of a pregnant minor girl know that she is seeking an abortion.

"That is absolutely false," says Seegmiller. "I've always been for parental rights in minor's abortions. And I'm against abortions. I'm pro-life. This has hurt my family, my friends. It goes way over the line in what you should say in a campaign."

James Evans, Salt Lake County GOP chairman, says Seegmiller didn't check a box on the questionnaire saying he was for or against such parental rights, so there is a question there.