Seegmiller predicts he'll pull the race out in the end. "I hope we'll have a decision Tuesday night" after all the votes have been counted. In 2006, he and Curtis had to wait four weeks to really know the winner — after the formal vote canvass of the east Sandy district was held. Seegmiller said that while Curtis may complain about Democratic Party campaign material, "I've insisted that all such mailers have my telephone number on them, and I haven't gotten one call" complaining about a mailer.

Democrats have believed for some time that they had a shot at both GOP incumbents.

Seegmiller, of course, almost took out Curtis, who has at times been a controversial state leader, two years ago. No one can remember if a sitting Utah House speaker has ever been defeated in re-election.

Buttars' problems arose when, during the 2008 Legislature, in speaking on the Senate floor about a school bill, he said, "This baby is black, I'll tell you. It is a dark, ugly thing." Some took the comment as racist. Buttars said he never intended that and apologized. The Salt Lake chapter of the NAACP called for Buttars to resign, saying his latest statements cemented other controversial comments by the retired private school administrator. Instead, Buttars stayed in office and filed for re-election. He was challenged by several candidates within his own Republican Party but won 60 percent of the vote in the Salt Lake County GOP convention, winning renomination outright.

In part because both races have been tight and controversial, money and grass-roots support have flowed in.

Buttars has spent more than $100,000. Rendell has spent more than $54,000.

Curtis has proven the best fundraiser in Utah legislative history. Over the past few years, between his personal campaign account and a political action committee, Curtis has raised more than $400,000. He's spent more than $60,000 on his re-election this year — leaving plenty left over, win or lose, for any future campaigns he may want to undertake. Curtis said if he wins this will be his last two years in the Utah House, although he may run for higher office someday.

Seegmiller has spent around $50,000 — "everything I could raise."

Both Buttars' and Curtis' districts are Republican in past voting — although Salt Lake County has been voting more and more Democratic in recent elections. Still, the new surveys show that both incumbents are having problems holding on to their political base.

Fifty-five percent of those polled in Senate District 10 said they are Republicans; only 15 percent said they are Democrats. But Rendell is getting 21 percent of the Republican vote and 52 percent of the independent vote, Jones' survey shows.

Forty-two percent interviewed in the House District 49 race said they are Republicans; 19 percent said they are Democrats. However, Seegmiller is getting 22 percent of the GOP vote and 49 percent of the independent vote, Jones found.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com