The two surprises for the Feb. 5 vote: Conservative political pundit Alan Keyes, who joined the race a month ago but has been off the radar, will be on the ballot; Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who is running, will not.

In all, 18 candidates filed the paperwork and paid the $500 to take part in Utah's primary election, which will take place on what could be the defining day in the race for the White House.

All told, Democrats in 20 states and Republicans in 18 states will compete in primary elections, potentially giving the party frontrunners overwhelming leads.

Brownback, who has been polling in the lower tier of Republican candidates, said last week that he would quit the campaign if he didn't finish in the top four in the Iowa caucus.

A Brownback spokesman said Monday that Brownback has not dropped out, but did not know why the senator did not file for the Utah primary.

"I don't know why he chose not to sign up here," said Utah Republican Party Chairman Stan Lockhart. "We really created a process where we hoped all the major Republican [candidates] would sign up to run in the state of Utah."

The Republicans have 36 delegates up for grabs in the Utah primary, of the 1,230 needed to win the nomination. Utah's GOP delegates are awarded on a winner-take-all basis.

The Democrats will be awarding 23 of the state's 29 delegates, with a total of 2,182 needed for the party's nod. Those delegates will be awarded based on the candidates' proportion of votes.

"Utahns for a couple decades have been trying to figure out how to get into the race before it was over and at least we've accomplished it this time," said Todd Taylor, executive director of the Utah Democratic Party. "Whether we'll be the major story of the day remains to be seen, but at least we're there before the decision is made."

But with so much of the fight for the party nominations taking place in other states, Utah may still get lost in the shuffle, said Kelly Patterson, a political science professor at Brigham Young University.

"There are a lot of delegates up for selection that day and not a lot of them proportionately come from Utah, and because of that, you'll see candidates allocate their time strategically and probably not spend a lot of time here," Patterson said.

That may be especially true on the Republican side, where former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Mormon and head of Utah's 2002 Winter Olympics, is seen as a prohibitive favorite.

"But the flip side of that is there's so much uncertainty about the nomination because it's so competitive that the calculation is you'll never know if even a small number of delegates will make a difference," Patterson said.

Lockhart says that the candidates have and will pay attention to the state.

"A lot of campaigning has already happened here and we've had several of the candidates come through. We're on the map just by the number who have already been here," he said.

The late filers Monday included Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. Other candidates filed earlier.

The stable of Democratic candidates also includes little-known Frank Lynch, hailing from Jupiter, Fla., whose Web site hails him as "the most important emerging national leader since Abraham Lincoln," and promises free universal health care, free college and 20 million new jobs if he is elected.

The front-loaded primary schedule has prompted Democratic front-running Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to scrub a Park City fundraiser scheduled for next week.

Instead, her husband, former President Clinton, will attend a Nov. 4 fundraiser at the Park City home of Barry and Amy Baker.

Organizers are also hoping to set up a public appearance with the former president, according to former Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini, who is helping to plan the event.

* DEMOCRATS:

Sen. Joe Biden, Del.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, N.Y.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, Conn.

Ex-Sen. John Edwards, N.C.

Ex-Sen. Mike Gravel, Alaska

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Ohio

Frank Lynch, Jupiter, Fla.

Sen. Barack Obama, Ill.

Gov. Bill Richardson, N.M.

* REPUBLICANS:

Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, N.Y.

Ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee, Ark.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, Calif.

Ex-Ambassador Alan Keyes, Md.

Sen. John McCain, Ariz.

Rep. Ron Paul, Texas

Ex-Gov. Mitt Romney, Mass.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colo.

Ex-Sen. Fred Thompson, Tenn.