The Utah Senate will see at least four newcomers representing Salt Lake County after Tuesday's election, as incumbents are seeking re-election in only five of the nine Senate races in the county.
And if there's a party trend in the races from Salt Lake County this year, it is that more Democrats are trying to hold on to seats they already have. Four of the five incumbents running for re-election are Democrats, while three of the four open seats are currently held by Republicans.District 1 (central and northeast Salt Lake City): Democrat Robert C. Steiner, a first-term incumbent who works for the family-owned Steiner Corp., is running against Republican Richard M. Smiley, owner of computer wholesaler Rocky Mountain Hardware; American Party candidate Lawrence R. Kauffman and Libertarian Hugh A. Butler.
District 3 (north Murray, Granite Park, east half of South Salt Lake, west Sugar House and a small part of south-central Salt Lake City): Former Rep. and first-term Sen. Blaze D. Wharton, a Democrat and the administrative aide to Salt Lake County Commissioner Randy Horiuchi, is running against Republican Marlow Draney, who works for an engineering company; Independent Party candidate John Christensen, who is self-employed in environmental services; and Socialist Workers Party candidate Eileen Koschak.
District 4 (includes portions of southern Salt Lake and northern Utah counties): Incumbent Republican Howard Stephenson, manager of the Utah Taxpayers Association, is running unopposed.
District 7 (southeast Salt Lake City, Mill Creek and Mount Olympus): Sen. Ronald J. Ockey, R-Mount Olympus, is not running. The race includes Republican David L. Buhler, former Utah commerce director; Democrat Bob Adams, executive director of the education association group Uni-Serv; and Libertarian Charles G. Pearce.
District 9 (Holladay-Cottonwood area): First-term incumbent Republican Delpha A. Baird was defeated in the primary. The race is between Republican Steve Poulton, an independent insurance agent, and Democrat Scott Leckman, a general surgeon at St. Mark's Hospital.
District 10 (most of central and east Sandy): Four-term incumbent Republican and Senate President Arnold Christensen left office before the end of his term to accept an assignment as an LDS mission president. The race is between Republican Al Mansell, a real estate broker appointed to finish Chris-tensen's term, and Democrat Larry R. Williams, a lawyer.
District 11 (southeast West Valley City, north Taylorsville and north Kearns): Two-term incumbent Democrat Paul Fordham is not running. The race is between Democrat and state AFL-CIO President Ed Mayne, Republican and Murray City Attorney Craig Hall, and Libertarian Chauna P. Pierce.
District 12 (central and east parts of West Valley City and South Salt Lake west of State Street): First-term incumbent Democrat Millie M. Peterson, director of medical school admissions at the University of Utah, is running against Republican John D. Newman, former West Valley City manager.
District 13 (Magna, northwest and southwest portions of West Valley City, the westernmost part of Salt Lake City, west Kearns and all of Tooele County): First-term incumbent Democrat George Mantes, who owns Mantes Chevrolet in Tooele, is running against Republican Jay Edwin Collier, a self-employed private investigator.
Spending patterns among the major-party candidates as of Nov. 3 shows incumbents are outspending challengers. Steiner had spent $19,111 compared to Smiley's $5,133 in District 1; Wharton had spent $18,048 compared to Draney's $2,109 in District 3; non-incumbent Mayne spent $13,677, compared to Hall's $9,797 in District 11; and Peterson spent $10,334 compared to Newman's $3,641.