The least that can be said of the two Republican candidates for Utah County sheriff is that they won't confuse primary voters with their similarities.
On the contrary, David Bateman and Richard Mack seem to be as different as two candidates from the same party could be. Bateman is dull but steady; Mack is flashy and a lightning rod for controversy.Bateman represents the known albeit imperfect leadership of the past 13 years, while Mack's appeal is based on a different - but some say ineffective - approach to law enforcement.
Perhaps more than anywhere else, their differences can be seen in their respective stances on several major issues in the campaign (see accompanying chart).
Bateman, 57, was appointed Utah County sheriff in 1985 and has been re-elected three times since then. He has three children and five grandchildren and has lived his entire life in the northern Utah County community of Alpine.
Mack, 45, recently moved back to Provo after eight years as sheriff of Graham County, Ariz., which has a population about one-tenth of Utah County's. Mack graduated from Brigham Young University before taking a job as a Provo police officer in the 1970s.
He is most well-known for his controversial stand against the background check requirements of the Brady gun law. He and another small-town sheriff took the fight all the way to the Supreme Court, where justices ruled in their favor.
Whichever candidate emerges from Tuesday's Republican primary will face Democrat George Alexanderson, a Utah County deputy sheriff and former New York City policeman, in the November general election.
One of the issues on which Bateman and Mack differ concerns traffic checkpoints, or roadblocks. Under Bateman, the Utah County Sheriff's Office has consistently gotten judicial approval to stage the checkpoints - especially on busy weekends like Easter - at strategic locations to screen for drunken drivers and other violators of the law.
But Mack contends that the traffic checkpoints are an intrusion of residents' privacy and possibly a violation of their constitutional rights. He proposed during a recent debate with Bateman that a better alternative would be setting up a shuttle system at local bars to ensure that drunken Utah County residents don't try to drive themselves home.
Mack also has objected to Bateman's practice of accepting federal government grants to fund law enforcement programs. The grants typically run out after a couple of years, and then the sheriff's office is forced to either come up with money each year or discontinue the programs.
Bateman applied for and received grants to start the Utah County Gang Project - which has since become locally funded - and a canyon patrol staffed by several deputies.
Mack has said that Bateman's approach is outdated and stale and that conditions for inmates at the Utah County Security Center are too posh. The normally congenial Bateman, meanwhile, recently started to label Mack an extremist who would bring trouble and strife to the sheriff's office.
Bateman says Mack's views tend toward the far right of the political spectrum, but Mack has taken steps to distance himself from ultra-conservative candidates like Jeremy Friedbaum, who is challenging 3rd Congressional District Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, in the primary.
"Jeremy Friedbaum is probably a good man," Mack said in a recent written statement. "However, I cannot agree with the ideology on which he has based his candidacy and I have made no attempts to associate my campaign with his."
Although Bateman wondered aloud at a recent debate about Mack's association with the militia movement, Mack has said he accepted no money from militia groups to finance his campaign.
A financial report filed with the Utah County Auditor's Office shows that Mack received contributions from several dozen individuals totaling $14,674. Bateman, meanwhile, reported only $2,740 in contributions to his campaign.
Mack's superior funding shows in the number of campaign signs and bumper stickers ("Back Mack" is his slogan) that have appeared throughout Utah County in recent weeks.
Despite their differences, the two candidates agree that something must be done to stem the rising tide of crime in Utah County. Bateman's plan about how to do that is much more specific than that of Mack, who has said little other than that the crime rate is too high. Another common ground is that each candidate accuses the other of trying to start civilian "posses."