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Utah Democrats held off a challenge in the Senate and have picked up at least one House seat outside of Salt Lake County.

The minority party got good news early, as former Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jani Iwamoto rolled to an easy win, protecting the most endangered Democratic Senate seat.

And former Rep. Brad King succeeded in his bid to return to the Legislature, winning what had been a Republican seat in Carbon and Emery counties.

Going into the night, Republicans commanded the House by a 61-14 margin and controlled the Senate by a similarly daunting 24-5 majority.

With King's win, Tuesday's results had Democrats picking up one seat in the House and holding onto the pevious 14 for a total of 15; and also holding onto their five Senate seats, four of which were on this year's ballot.

There were only a relatively small number of competitive races scattered around the state, but if Republicans had been able to post a net gain in the House, they would exercise the type of one-party rule that hasn't been seen in the body since Democrats dominated in the 1930s.

Here is a look at a few of the races that were the most hotly contested:

Senate District 4 • Iwamoto, a Democrat, soundly beat Holladay City Councilwoman Sabrina Petersen, a Republican. The two were seeking to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Pat Jones. Iwamoto received 17,389 votes vs. Petersen's 10,810 or 62 percent to 38 percent.

Senate District 12 • Freshman Republican Sen. Daniel Thatcher won re-election over Democrat Clare Collard in his district that encompasses portions of West Valley City, Magna and Tooele. Thatcher prevailed 58 percent with 7,305 votes to 42 percent or 5,351 votes in unofficial results.

House District 30 • In West Valley City, Democrat Michael Lee, a police officer who has the same name as Utah's conservative U.S. senator, defeated former Republican Rep. Fred Cox for an open seat vacated by the retirement of Democratic Rep. Janice Fisher. Lee tallied 2,714 votes compared to Cox's 2,606 or 51 percent to 49 percent.

House District 31 • Rep. Larry Wiley, a Democrat who won re-election by a slim 77 votes last year in West Valley City, won by an even smaller margin this year — 33 votes — against Republican challenger Sophia DiCaro, who worked in the Governor's Office of Economic Development. Wiley received 1,743 votes or 50.48 percent, compared to DiCaro's 1,710 votes or 49.52 percent.

House District 34 • Rep. Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, defeated Democratic challenger Karen Kwan with 3,274 votes compared to Kwan's 3,072 votes or 52 percent to 48 percent.

House District 38 • Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, a former Democrat, defeated Democrat Chrystal Butterfield on Tuesday night, receiving 2,365 votes or 57 percent vs. Butterfield's 1,780 votes or 43 percent.

House District 44 • In Murray, Democrat Christine Passey squeaked by Republican Bruce Cutler, gathering 3,769 votes or 49 percent to Cutler's 3,617 votes or 47 percent, and winning the seat of retired Democratic Rep. Tim Cosgrove.

House District 54 • Incumbent Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, defeated Democratic challenger Glen Wright of Park City with 5,938 votes compared to Wright's 3,738 votes or 61 percent to 39 percent. The Summit County section of the district leans Democratic, while Wasatch County tilts Republican.

House District 69 • In Carbon and Emery counties, King notched a win over Republican Bill Labrum, a Roosevelt car dealer. King received 5,183 votes or 56 percent vs. Labrum's 4,139 votes or 44 percent. The victory meant Democrats would win the Republican seat, formerly held by Rep. Jerry Anderson, and that the minority party would hold a House seat outside of Salt Lake County for the first time since Anderson won the seat in 2010.