SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s governor and a string of fellow Republican officeholders are expected to sweep Tuesday elections on a ballot headlined by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah.
The most hard-fought race is between Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson and Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love, a Republican who matched Matheson in fundraising with help from national Republicans.
Recent polls have given Love a slight lead over the six-term Matheson in Utah’s 4th District. If she wins, Love will become the first black Republican woman in Congress.
Turnout has already hit 30 percent with early voting and absentee ballots and could exceed 75 percent by late Tuesday, a level not seen in the past four or five presidential elections, said Mark Thomas, Utah’s director of elections.
The outcome in many races is not in doubt. A recent poll gave Gov. Gary Herbert and Sen. Orrin Hatch huge leads over their Democratic challengers, Peter Cooke and Scott Howell.
In other Utah congressional races:
— Rep. Rob Bishop faced an aggressive challenge from Democrat Donna McAleer, who managed to raise more money than the five-term incumbent for the race in northern Utah’s District 1.
A 46-year-old political newcomer, McAleer is a West Point graduate and former Army platoon leader with a business background who nearly qualified for the 2002 Olympics as a bobsled driver. A Bishop victory is assumed by many in Utah.
— Rep. Jason Chaffetz is expected to breeze over his Democrat opponent, Salt Lake City architect Soren Simonsen, in District 3.
Chaffetz has spent more time stumping for Romney than worrying about his own race. District 3 sprawls from the Salt Lake City suburb of Holladay to the southeast corner of Utah.
— Utah’s open District 2 features Democrat Jay Seegmiller, who earned a reputation in the state Legislature for upsetting a Republican power broker. The Amtrak conductor is competing against Republican newcomer Chris Stewart, a former Air Force pilot and environmental consultant who has authored several books including “The Miracle of Freedom: Seven Tipping Points that Saved the World.”
District 2 sprawls from part of Salt Lake City’s east side through much of western and southern Utah, including St. George.
