Seven Republican incumbents are among the state legislative candidates vying for voter approval in Tuesday's primary election.
And while incumbents tend to fare well in elections, especially in primaries, several members of the House of Representatives appear to be in close races with their in-party challengers as moderates and conservatives vie for control of Utah's GOP.
"I think it's excellent," Brent Parker said of his chances of defeating 11-term incumbent Evan Olsen, Young Ward, in Cache Valley's District 5.
"I've got all the mayors' support, the county sheriff's office and association, the Cache County attorney, so I've got a broad base of support."
Parker, president of the Cache County School Board , is viewed as the moderate in his contest with Olsen. And Parker, supported by the Utah Education Association, believes he has been able to convince voters he is more than a one-issue — education — candidate.
In District 71 in Emery, Grand and San Juan counties, moderate Keele Johnson hopes to retain his seat against conservative challenger De Lamar Gibbons.
"You never know," Johnson said. "It can be close, you can get beat or you can stomp 'em.
"It doesn't matter who you are, you're going to have people who don't like you so they go out and recruit someone to run against you."
Rob Bishop, GOP state chairman, said those two contests could be the closest of those involving incumbents.
"I would not be uncomfortable with any of the candidates" winning their primary races, Bishop said. "I think we'll have strong (general-election) candidates everywhere we are.
"We have a strong group."
Other primary candidates looking for a return to the House:
Sheryl Allen, a three-term veteran, takes on Don Guymon in Bountiful's District 19.
Richard Siddoway, elected four years ago, faces Gary Whipple in the North Salt Lake-Bountiful area, District 20.
Greg Curtis, running for his fourth term, is opposed by Patrick Henry Hansen in Sandy's District 49.
David Hogue, a two-term incumbent, runs against Randy Browning in Riverton's District 52.
David Cox in Lehi, running for re-election for the first time, is challenged by John Schmeltzer in Utah County's District 56.
All told, Tuesday's election will determine Republican nominees in 16 House and two Senate districts.
The Utah Education Association, a barometer of sorts for the conservative-moderate ideological split in the GOP, has endorsed nine GOP primary candidates.
The UEA, which often supports Democrats in the general election, has endorsed six of the seven GOP incumbents — for the primary election, at least. Each has a record of voting in favor of issues important to public educators, UEA President Phyllis Sorensen said.
The UEA does not support Olsen but instead endorses his opponent, Parker. The other candidates supported by the UEA are Bruce Dursteler, who is competing with Glenn Donnelson for the party nomination in North Ogden's District 7, and Todd Weiler, who faces Roger Barrus in Davis County's District 18.
Some of the primary battles are being waged on the turf of personality and experience. In Utah County's District 58, where two relative political newcomers, dentist Mark Bowman and certified financial planner Jim Ferrin, both present themselves as moderately conservative Republicans qualified for the job.
But in others, candidates have gone out of their way to label their opponents as more conservative, or less conservative, than they are.
In District 49, where Curtis has been described as a supporter of tax increases by Hansen, a conservative talk show host on KTKK, AM-630. Curtis contends he has been part of an effort to reduce taxes.
In District 56, Cox, a schoolteacher, subtly paints his opponent, Schmeltzer, as an ultraconservative. Cox's campaign signs posted around Lehi urge voters to "Check the Cox Box," saying the incumbent is "mainstream, not extreme."
Schmeltzer, a quality-assurance specialist at a Pleasant Grove software company, counters by saying that Cox's political leanings are too liberal for his constituency, which includes residents of Lehi, American Fork north of Main Street, Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain.
Schmeltzer points to a legislative report card given by the UEA, which rated Cox as sympathetic to its position on four of five key bills in the 2000 session. Ten of 11 other House members from Utah County voted in favor of only one or none of those bills.
E-mail: zman@desnews.com ; carter@desnews.com