This was a perfect example of the influence a like-minded special interest group can have in an election with less than 10 percent voter turnout and an issue that represents a deep philosophical divide and profoundly affects that interest group.

Ellis, the chief deputy to 28-year veteran and outgoing Treasurer Ed Alter, defeated Walker with enormous help from public employees and schoolteachers motivated to participate in this normally ho-hum election because they feared for their future.

Those groups represented by the Utah Public Employees Association and the Utah Education Association are becoming increasingly concerned about the Utah Legislature's tendency to privatize services and marginalize government workers.

The particular issue in this race, while not debated much in public, was the underlying philosophical difference in how the state's retirement benefits should be allocated.

Government employee groups voted in higher-than-usual numbers for a primary and they voted for Ellis because he represents a status-quo attitude about the nearly $20 billion retirement fund. They saw Walker, a state representative supported aggressively by the House Conservative Caucus, as a force for change. And to the employees, it would be a change for the worse.

Currently, the retirement system is a "defined benefit plan," which means the state contributes so much per year to the employees' retirement plan and after 20, 25 or 30 years, depending on the employees' status, they can retire and receive a set percentage of their average wage for the rest of their lives.

Employees, for the most part, like the security of that plan, which relies on the expertise of government financial planners who have been instrumental in the substantial growth of the fund.

The House Conservative Caucus, from which Walker was born, has floated the idea of a gradual conversion to a "defined contribution plan" where the state contributes during the course of employment to the employee's personal 401k plan, managed by a private entity. So the burden of keeping the employee's individual retirement fund vibrant is shifted from the state system to the employee.

While the idea has plenty of support from the House, it has met some resistance in the Senate. Supporters of the idea believe that the private sector can do the job better and government should not be competing with a service that already is being provided by non-government corporations. A change would also protect the state fund from a future economic downturn that could affect its investments.

The position of state treasurer, who overseas the investments of the state's revenue and whose office sees $50 million to $700 million pass through every day, is key to the ultimate direction taken with the retirement fund. The treasurer enjoys an influential position on the State Retirement Board.

Because of the extraordinary interest in that issue among state employees and teachers, the UEA's political action committee approved $10,000 in contributions to Ellis' campaign.

The concern over the retirement system also expanded to a legislative race or two within the Republican family.

UEA's PAC contributed nearly $3,000 to the campaign of Ryan Wilcox, the GOP challenger who defeated incumbent Rep. Glenn Donnelson of North Ogden, who also was strongly supported by the House Conservative Caucus. And Valeo, a corporation tied to the Utah Public Employees' Association, contributed $1,500 to Wilcox' campaign.