Few would disagree that Rep. Bill Wright, a Utah County Republican, is one of the most conservative, fiscally and otherwise, lawmakers on Capitol Hill. But you would never guess that by looking at his campaign finances.
According to campaign finance disclosure forms filed this week with the lieutenant governor's office, Wright raised $900 and spent $2,339 - a 200 percent deficit despite the fact he is running unopposed for re-election.Wright is not alone in his deficit spending. Others who spent more than they received were Reps. Shirley Jensen, R-Sandy; Beverly Evans, R-Altamont; and Kevin Garn, R-Layton; and candidates Gregory Nance and Sue Lockman - all of them balance-the-budget Republicans.
Of course, there were a few Democrats who ran up negative accounts, too, including Rep. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake, who raised $7,215 and spent $7,430 - all while running unopposed.
On the other side of the coin, Rep. Met Johnson, R-New Harmony, is running unopposed. He accepted no contributions and spent no campaign funds.
So who raised the most money? Not surprisingly, the cats getting the fattest on campaign contributions are incumbents in Republican and Democratic leadership. Or those who are making a serious run for leadership.
House Majority Leader Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, wins the prize for raising the most campaign contributions with $22,476. Stephens wants to be speaker of the House. His opponent in that contest, Rep. Mel Brown, R-Midvale, raised $16,797 - sixth highest in the House.
That Stephens would raise a lot of money is not surprising. But the candidate who raised the next highest amount was a surprise.
Unknown Democrat Dell Johnson, who is challenging long-time Republican Rep. Evan Olsen in Cache County, has raised $17,490. Olsen, meanwhile, raised only $2,920.
Also interesting is that seven of the 10 candidates receiving the most money were Democrats.
Also surprising is the amount of money being raised by unknown Democrats, some of whom are challenging well-entrenched Republicans.
In addition to Dell Johnson, Fae Beck raised $16,865 in her race against Utah County Republican Jeff Alexander; Jack Elizondo raised $13,723 in his bid for Salt Lake District 36; and Phyllis Frankel Young raised $10,136 in her bid to unseat Rep. Keele Johnson, R-Blanding, in San Juan County.
Generally, women Democrats fared extremely well in terms of raising money. In addition to Young and Beck, Democratic incumbents Sara Eubank raised $14,665, Mary Carlson raised $14,867 and Judy Buffmire raised $14,570.
On the Republican side, the only female candidate to raise a significant amount of money was Sheryl Allen in Davis County. She listed contributions of $13,328.
While any of those totals would not be considered high for members of leadership, they are unusually high for routine races. Most House candidates raised and spent between $3,000 and $5,000.
That women candidates are raising a lot of money "is no big plot," Buffmire said. "Women are working harder and doing a better job of reaching out and asking for money. I hope it works. We need more women in the Legislature. We will have better laws to have both (sexes) represented."
As predicted, incumbents received a much higher percentage of contributions from political action committees, and incumbents generally had campaign war chests much larger than their opponents. Challengers, meanwhile, got most of their money from personal contributions, family and friends.
As in past years, the biggest contributors to legislative races were the Utah Education Association (and affiliated local associations), the Utah Public Employees Association, Union Pacific, Blue Cross-Blue Shield and assorted industrial interests.
The campaign disclosure information also revealed that politics indeed makes strange bed-fellows. For example, Rep. Lee Ellertson reported a contribution of $291.34 from the Daily Universe, the campus newspaper at LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University. The same disclosure also listed a $300 from the Utah Beer Wholesalers Association.