Republican David Hinkins hopes to end that blue streak. Democrat Brad King aims to keep the red out.
"We've been misrepresented by Democrats for years," Hinkins says. There's nothing wrong with them. It's just that they're the minority party, so we get nothing back. We need to be represented by a Republican for a change."
Longtime lawmaker Mike Dmitrich, the Senate's current minority leader, has clutched the District 27 seat since 1991 and retires at year's end.
While Hinkins, a businessman and rancher, has more cash to spread his message, King enjoys the name recognition that comes from holding a state House seat since 1996.
Mid-June campaign-finance reports showed that Hinkins had loaned his campaign $40,000 from his own wallet and also collected $5,000 from Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse.
King, the current House minority leader, plans to ramp up fundraising but isn't banking on outspending his GOP rival. His campaign had $5,345 in June.
"I'll rely heavily on my 12 years of experience," King says.
Both candidates point to the notoriously dangerous stretch of U.S. 6 between Price and Spanish Fork as a driving force in their Senate bids.
"We're shrinking in population and need young families moving in," Hinkins says. "But first Highway 6 needs to get fixed."
King says he has fought for upgrades to the road since his early days in the House. "It was part of the reason I ran in the first place," he says. "And it's part of the reason I'm now running for the Senate."
Since 1998, more than $200 million has been spent improving the gnarly route over Soldier Summit. Half the 60-mile stretch has been widened to four lanes, King says, and further upgrades are scheduled this year and next.
Hinkins, who sells underground breathing equipment for miners, opposes what he views as excessive fines and restrictions on the area's best job sources: coal and timber.
"Mining used to be hazardous but now it's not even in the top 50," Hinkins says. "All of a sudden, because of one incident, the whole industry will pay."
Hinkins is referring to last year's Crandall Canyon disaster in which six miners and three rescuers perished.
Those fines were enacted after significant study, King counters.
"When you make mistakes, you pay for those mistakes," he adds. "When you lose lives and livelihoods, it's very serious to the families, communities and economy."
On another issue, Hinkins touts the College of Eastern Utah's Western Energy Training Center as an educational solution for the area. The center produces trained miners, electricians, truck drivers and power-plant and oil-rig operators - jobs Hinkins says pay upwards of $35 to $40 an hour.
"We're a land of opportunity down here," he adds, "just waiting to be discovered."
King calls for more K-12 funding to help rural schools recruit and retain qualified teachers
"To the critics who say you can't improve things in Utah schools by throwing more money at the problem, I say, 'How could you know? We have never tried,' " King says on his Web site.
King advocates economic diversification "so we're not quite as subject to the ups and downs of the energy industry."
Both candidates back new energy options. King sees carbon sequestration as the next achievable step, while Hinkins envisions tapping easy-to-grow algae for alternative fuel.
"That's what I will push," Hinkins says of the pond-scum-to-oil idea. "I'll make millionaires in Emery County and show the Navajos they can get rich without putting in casinos."
