Kevin Garn conceded the primary election on Tuesday to Rob Bishop for the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District.
Garn admitted defeat as Bishop led 57 percent to 43 percent with 85 percent of precincts reporting.
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On the Democratic side, advertising executive Dave Thomas led educational consultant Donald Dunn 52 percent to 48 percent.
The candidates are running to succeed 22-year veteran Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, who is retiring in December.
Bishop's results seemed to confound the latest Dan Jones and Associates poll, which gave Garn a wide lead.
Garn was surprised. "This is exact opposite of what our internal polling suggests. It's really strange," Garn spokesman Judd Bagley said.
Hansen's old 1st District has been changed significantly by the Utah Legislature.
It no longer runs to southern Utah. It takes in a sliver of west-side Salt Lake City. It still wraps around northwestern Utah but was moved east to include Summit County and the Democratic stronghold of Park City.
Garn and Bishop had almost no differences to emphasize on the issues. Both men believe in low taxes and less government, and more state rights over congressional power.
Bishop, 50, relied heavily on small contributors who can't come close to matching the $600,000 that self-made businessman Garn has loaned his own campaign.
Garn, 47, has disclosed assets and income totaling at least $20 million. Bishop, a school teacher and former Utah Republican chairman, earns about $200,000 per year, most of that from lobbying at the Utah Legislature, where he once served as House speaker.
The two Democratic candidates say the very fact there is a primary means a resurgence for their party. The 1st District hasn't held a Democratic primary since Democrat Gunn McKay was elected in 1990 to Congress.
Dunn, 31, Salt Lake City, is an educational consultant who teaches at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and worked for the Clinton administration. He ran for Congress in the 3rd District in 2000.
Thomas, 51, of Farmington, is a former high school band teacher who owns an advertising firm and serves as a Salt Lake Community College trustee. He was Gunn McKay's first congressional intern, and since then has worked for every Utah Democrat seeking national office.
With a personal worth of at least $2 million, Thomas is financing his own election.
Dunn is a proven fund-raiser whose donors include the national and state Democratic parties, Sen. Christopher Dodd from Connecticut, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and a raft of labor unions.