Voters' urge to change extending to Utah Legislature, too?

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Becky Edwards, who knocked off Rep. Paul Neuenschwander in the Republican primary for a Bountiful House seat, says voters were sending a clear message to lawmakers: It's time for a change.

"I think one of the things that resonated with people is, if we want to see a change in the legislative body, we can start that change in District 20," Edwards said.

In addition to Edwards, challenger Ryan Wilcox defeated Rep. Glen Donnelson, R-North Ogden. And Rep. Mark Walker, R-Sandy, who had the backing of key legislative leaders, was soundly beaten by deputy treasurer Richard Ellis.

It was, by any account, a bad day for the incumbents backed by the Republican Party establishment.

Edwards said people in her district were concerned with legislative ethics, the power and money of special interest groups, and the way the Legislature used its power, for example, to pass an omnibus education bill that has been challenged on constitutional grounds.

"I think that there has got to be a message that is sent to every person serving in the Legislature that says, 'OK, we need to clean up our act or this could be us in the next election,' " Edwards said.

"We've had a collapse of power in the Legislature to a handful of people and we need to take it back, we need to grab this back for the regular people again."

But House Speaker Greg Curtis and Senate President John Valentine dismiss any suggestion that Republican powerbrokers were dealt a blow in Tuesday's primary.

Walker's race, said Curtis, turned very negative and Ellis simply "looked stronger on paper."

"So, no, it was not a vote against the Legislature or leadership at all. . . . But it shows the influence of special interest groups," specifically, teachers unions, said Curtis, whose wife, Teresa, also lost her bid for a school board seat.

Valentine said the elections played out about as he expected, and the results are really unique to the individual races.

The Senate president said if the Republicans had lost a number of incumbents in the convention or primaries, it might signal a broader discontent, but with just a few House races and one Senate race as evidence, "it's hard to make that case."

Rep. Kerry Gibson, R-Ogden, for one, took Donnelson's defeat to heart. He called it "a good reminder for me that my constituents have the ability to hire and fire me every two years."

He said the incumbent's refusal to debate his challenger had a big impact on the election and is a symptom of a "larger problem" with incumbents of both parties who develop an attitude "once you're elected you don't have to report to your constituents."

Weber County GOP Chairman Matt Bell, who took heat from some party leaders for scheduling a pre-primary debate - which Donnelson skipped - said officeholders must be accountable to their voters.

"Every two to four years their contract is up - it's not necessary for us to keep rubber-stamping those contracts," Bell said.

Kelly Patterson, director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, said every election has unique dynamics based on the candidates, but also has a larger context.

Based on pre-election and exit polling, he said, "there was significant movement for change."

"People expressed dissatisfaction with the direction the country was going and, by extension, the state, so if you were seen as establishment in any way, that created problems for you," Patterson said.

Utah Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland said the Walker race, in particular, "tells you a lot about Utah voters being tired with the sense of arrogance" among Republican leadership.

"Overall, there was an obvious change going on, a 'throw-the-rascals-out,' and that's what we've been sensing for a good year here."

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* SHEENA MCFARLAND contributed to this report.