Despite holding two congressional seats, a lot of questions are being bounced back and forth among Utah Democrats going into the state convention Saturday at Cottonwood High School.

Can Karen Shepherd avoid a primary fight in the battle for Wayne Owens' 2nd District seat? And after 12 years of Rep. James Hansen, R-Utah, in northern Utah, can Democrats ever hope to capture the 1st District?Even the re-election of Democrat Bill Orton, the only congressional incumbent going into the state convention without an intraparty fight, is no "gimme" in staunchly Republican Utah County and rural Utah.

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1st Congressional District

In what has been a surprisingly low-key race, three Democratic candidates are jockeying for the nomination to challenge Hansen, a five-term Republican incumbent who has turned back all challengers since his election in 1980.

The acknowledged front-runner is Ron Holt, a Weber State College professor of anthropology, who has focused his campaign on the poor economy. "We've called all the delegates, and from the polling we should be at 70 percent in the convention," Holt said.

A self-described progressive Democrat, Holt's message has been "investing in America, the areas of government where we should prioritize our money and how to get ourselves out of the budget mess we are in."

All three candidates have billed themselves as the person to beat Hansen, who has been repeatedly labeled as arrogant and inaccessible. "Frankly, I think all three of us would agree we haven't seen a lot of action out of Hansen these last 12 years," Holt said.

What they don't agree on is who would be the better candidate to beat Hansen. Holt's main challenger is Ogden accountant Jerry Crouch, who says delegates are slowly leaving Holt's side to join his ranks.

Crouch, a Bountiful native and long-time accountant in Ogden, says Congress must act to reduce the nation's budget deficit by cutting programs, including defense, that don't directly benefit education, retired workers and the "truly" needy.

Holt and Crouch are joined in the race by political newcomer Craig A. Russell, who has never sought public office but got tired of "dishonest" representatives and decided to target Hansen's seat.

His platform on the budget is similar to that of Holt and Crouch except he seeks laws limiting legislation to a single-item appropriation. "We've had enough pork-barrel politicking," he said.

2nd Congressional District

Three candidates are vying for the seat held by Owens, who is stepping down to run for the U.S. Senate. State Sen. Karen Shepherd, D-Salt Lake, is far and away the favorite.

With five Republican candidates facing a politically bloody primary fight, Democratic party officials would like to spend the next several months grooming a single candidate. But whether Shepherd can garner 70 percent of the delegates Saturday is still a question mark.

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"I have been contacting delegates and talking with them, and the response has been very positive," candidate William Robbins said. "But I have not done any polling, and I don't know how my campaign is going. The big issue for me is the national debt, and whether the delegates see it that way remains to be seen."

Robbins said he is not optimistic he will make it out of convention. Another long-shot candidate is Charlie Brown Saulsberry, who has used his own physical and speech handicaps as a platform to draw attention to the lack of funding for the handicapped.

Saulsberry could not be reached for comment.

Shepherd has the name recognition, the financial backing and the organization to run a congressional race. "I'm determined to come out of convention with 70 percent," she said. "We have the organization working toward that, and we've been actively calling the delegates."

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