There haven't been this many Democrats in the Utah House of Representatives since the day after the 1992 election.
They are still in the minority and decidedly so. But in gaining a total of three House seats in Tuesday's election, the Democrats sent home a trio of Salt Lake County Republicans with more than 18 years of state lawmaking experience combined, including two of the more conservative members of the body.
Gone are Rep. Ray Short, R-Holladay; Rep. David Zolman, R-Taylorsville; and Rep. Richard Walsh, R-Cottonwood Heights. Each was defeated by a woman.
"It's definitely going to make something of a difference in there (the House) because these were some pretty right-leaning guys, at least for the most part," Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party, said of the trio of GOP losers.
There was one major casualty in the Democratic ranks. Rep. Perry Buckner, D-Kearns, lost to Republican Peggy Wallace in District 42.
But that loss was absorbed by the unexpected departure of Rep. Keele Johnson, R-Blanding, from the District 71 race last week. Johnson was, by law, kicked off the ballot when he failed to submit his campaign finance reports on time. That left Max Young, a former Democratic lawmaker from Salt Lake City, to win by default.
The other 70 races went true to form, with incumbents winning or newcomers retaining the seat for their party.
There was still some question about House District 5. Final but unofficial results with the state Elections Office gives the Cache County seat to Republican Brent Parker. He was favored over both Democrat Margaret Obray and Rep. Evan Olsen, R-Young Ward. Olsen lost the GOP primary to Parker but decided to run as a write-in candidate, and that's apparently what caused some problems.
According to Obray and others contacted by the Deseret News, an adhesive sticker used to select Olsen as a write-in candidate was incorrectly placed atop Obray's name on more than one voting machine.
"They covered up my name so some people thought I'd dropped out," Obray said. "What they're kind of saying is if someone really believes they wanted to vote for me and didn't get the opportunity that if they come in to the county clerk's office, they will try to go back in and recount it."
Parker said he heard about the apparent problem, too, but said he doubted it would have affected the voting that much. It could have given him a few extra votes but likely took a few as well, he supposed.
"I think it's minor. I don't think it's major," he said. "I think it's probably two or three incidences, from what I've had reported to me."
Olsen was unavailable for comment. A voting official in the county clerk's office denied that there had been any mix-up at the polls.
With all precincts reporting Wednesday morning, the state Elections Office has the count 53 percent for Parker, 38.5 percent for Obray and 8 percent for Olsen.
While Obray faced a tough loss, other Democrats were celebrating.
Like Cindy Beshear, an Arkansas native who upset Zolman by 165 votes.
Zolman, who was seeking his third term, had come to the defense of Utah polygamists on several occasions. One of Beshear's campaign promises was to propose legislation allocating money to investigate crimes within polygamous groups and families.
"There's no doubt that the most pleasant surprise of the bunch is Cindy Beshear," Taylor said. "That was truly a delight. I think a lot of it has to do with the weakness of the incumbent, but I think her garrulous nature connected well with voters. She is quite a different personality for Utah politics."
And Patricia Jones, wife of pollster Dan Jones, who downed Walsh with nearly 55 percent of the vote.
And Carol Spackman Moss, who took 56.5 percent of the vote against Short.
Scott Simpson, executive director of the Utah Republican Party, said he was "a little surprised" at Short's loss. He said Short's favor among voters seemed to be slipping late in the campaign, but he was at a loss to explain why.
Taylor said the arrival of the three new women Democrats could have an impact on the upcoming House leadership elections.
Republicans began the day with a 54-21 advantage over the Democrats in the House. They ended the day with a 50-24 edge that would climb to 51-24 if Parker is declared the winner of the District 5 race.
Of the 58 incumbents who ran for re-election, including Johnson, 53 were successful. In each of the 17 districts where incumbents did not return, voters elected a member of the same party.
E-MAIL: zman@desnews.com