Voters in two Weber County House districts must choose from the best in a pool of GOP candidates as one incumbent battles to keep his seat and two lawmaking hopefuls fight for support in another district.
In House District 11, incumbent Carl Saunders, a retired dentist and Realtor/investor for Miles Real Estate Inc. in Ogden, is challenged by Riverdale City Councilman Jeff Powars.Powars, a business and estate planning attorney, is strongly supported by some in the local GOP.
Democrat legislator Pat Larson is not seeking re-election for her House seat in District 10. Two men have stepped up to take her place.
Bill Turner, a real estate professional, is a political newcomer who hasn't run for elective office before. Frank Guliuzza is the Weber County chairman for the Republican party. In April's Weber County Republican Convention, Guliuzza received 60 percent of the delegate vote and Turner received 29 percent.
In House District 9, Jesse Kemp, one of the few black Republicans in Utah, dropped out of the race, giving Robert Miles a free ride to the general election.
There are no Democratic legislative primaries and no Senate primary races to be decided on Tuesday.
DISTRICT 10
Democrat legislator Pat Larson is not seeking re-election for her House seat in District 10. Two Republicans vie to take her place.
Bill Turner is a political newcomer who hasn't run for elective office before. Frank Guliuzza is the Weber County chairman for the Republican party. In April's Weber County Republican Convention, Guliuzza received 60 percent of the delegate vote and Turner received 29 percent.
Turner or Guliuzza will be on the general-election ballot with Democrat LaWanna Shurtliff.
District 10 covers southeast Ogden, generally south of 30th Street and east of Gramercy Avenue; and all of South Ogden.
Frank Guliuzza (R)
Age: 41
Address: 1089 Sullivan Road, Ogden.
Occupation: Professor, Weber State University.
Personal: Wife, Kathy, two foster sons.
Experience: Chairman of the Weber County Republican Party, faculty adviser for College Republicans at Weber State since 1990. Chaired the Utah State Party's Issues Committee.
Major issue facing a legislator from Weber County: "Weber County has several different components. In the area I represent, people worry about the problems of urbanization, what to do with the tax base, property taxes, crime and the like."
Should state or local tax dollars be used to preserve open spaces from development? "One of the responsibilities of the state and particularly local government is to protect parks and green space. But it's a tough balance. We want to protect from what's happening to Los Angeles from happening on the Wasatch Front and, at the same time, we want to protect a dynamic economy."
Do you favor or oppose class-size reduction funds for junior high schools? "The best studies show that small classes taught by master teachers are the best way to facilitate a good education so, yes, if there is any way economically possible to decrease class sizes."
Do you favor or oppose reducing or eliminating the sales tax on food? If so, how can this be done? "Yes, I would favor reducing the sales tax on food. I don't know what type of tax increases would have to happen to offset the loss of revenue for food. If we were trying to reduce the size of government, probably one of the taxes that would be targeted is the food tax.
Bill Turner (R)
Age: 43
Address: 5067 Sioux Circle, Ogden.
Occupation: Real estate professional.
Personal: Wife, Sandy, three daughters.
Experience: Business and military experience in planning and budgets.
Major issue facing a legislator from Weber County: "The major problem for a Weber County legislator is to make sure that we're not getting left out of the funding processes. The Salt Lake area has a pretty strong coalition that makes sure their issues get taken care of before the north end gets taken care of."
Should state or local tax dollars be used to preserve open spaces from development? "Preservation of space is probably going to be a state issue, rather than a local issue, only because it affects the state as a whole rather than individual local communities. As you take a look at the population increase or planning it has to be done on a statewide basis."
Do you favor or oppose class-size reduction funds for junior high schools? Turner did not want to answer this question.
Do you favor or oppose reducing or eliminating the sales tax on food? If so, how can this be done? "I favor the elimination of sales tax on food. How it can be done is a careful look at the elimination of funding on other things. The money belongs to the people. It doesn't belong to the Legislature. Part of the interest for me running for the Legislature is concern over how that money is being spent."
HOUSE DISTRICT 11
Carl Saunders seeks re-election to this northern Utah district, but he faces tough competition from GOP challenger Jeff Powars.
Powars came out ahead of Saunders at the state nominating convention for the area that takes in Riverdale, Washington Terrace, Uintah, a sliver of Roy east of 1900 West, unincorporated areas south of South Ogden in Weber County and Hill Air Force Base in Davis County.
Although Powars is somewhat apologetic about entering the race, he says he didn't want to wait for Saunders to retire to get involved in politics.
Saunders is curious why he hasn't heard from Powars through the years and questions what he considers anti-development actions by the Riverdale City Council, on which Powars sits.
There is no Democratic primary here. Whoever wins will be up against Donald "Biff" Whiting, Ogden, in the general election. Whiting is running as a Democrat after establishing a name for himself in 1996 as an Independent Party member.
Carl Saunders (R)
Age: 69
Address: 2128 Eastwood Blvd., Ogden.
Occupation: Retired dentist, Realtor/
investor for Miles Real Estate Inc.
Personal: Married with seven children, 30 grandchildren.
Experience: Elected to House in 1996. House of Representatives, 1979-1983. Former Plain City coun-cil-man.
What should be done with the state's concealed-weapons law? I don't want to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms, but I do think churches, schools, private businesses and homeowners should be able to choose whether to allow guns.
Do you favor or oppose removing the sales tax from food? I oppose the removal of sales tax on food unless we can replace it with a better tax.
Where do you stand on building the Legacy Highway? There's no question that it is needed. I don't have a strong opinion about where it should go.
Do you favor or oppose state tax dollars going to east-west light rail in Salt Lake County? I oppose it.
Do you favor or oppose class-size reduction monies for junior high schools? I voted for class-size reduction, but if parents take an interest, then children are going to have a better attitude and get a better education despite the class size.
Does the state have a role in preserving open space? I think that should be left as much as possible to the local governments.
What other issues will surface in the next two years? The lack of prison space and an increase in automobile theft.
Jeff Powars (R)
Age: 39
Address: 5580 S. 1200 West, Riverdale.
Occupation: Business and estate planning attorney.
Personal: Married with one child.
Experience: Riverdale city councilman.
What should be done with the state's concealed-weapons law? Doesn't have a problem with it. Wants all weapons laws to be vigorously enforced.
Do you favor or oppose removing the sales tax from food? I favor it. We should make up that money by reducing government spending.
Where do you stand on building the Legacy Highway? I'm not a big supporter of the concept right now. I don't see an absolute "have-to" need at this time, although it should be planned. There will be a time when it's necessary.
Do you favor or oppose state tax dollars going to east-west light rail in Salt Lake County? I oppose it 100 percent. Mass transit should be self-supporting.
Do you favor or oppose class-size reduction monies for junior high schools? Favor it. It's a real critical time for these kids.
Does the state have a role in preserving open space? Yes. The state should assist local communities in implementing local plans and return some sales tax generated in local communities to be used for quality of life issues like parks and trails.
What other issues will surface in the next two years? Nuclear waste in Utah and unfunded mandates from the federal government.