He ended up bumping up his speech to 8:50 p.m. - bypassing live television shots an hour later - and spent most of his time introducing more than a dozen family members.

Such were the worries of a candidate ahead by more than 40 points. In one of the most lopsided races of the 2004 election, Bennett won a third term Tuesday by his biggest margin in three campaigns. He pledged to capitalize on his growing seniority in the U.S. Senate.

"I'll take it," the senator said. "In my third term, it's a time of harvest. It's a time when I can take advantage of the alliances I've forged, the friendships I've made and the experience I've gained."

While Bennett was in Washington for months of the campaign, Democratic candidate Paul Van Dam tried to generate interest by crisscrossing the state on a tandem bike with his wife, Mary Dawn Bailey. He carried a photo of Bennett's head taped to a stick and recorded his own version of "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey?" to imply the senator's absence. He hammered Bennett for pork-barrel spending, the federal deficit and support for President Bush's plans to study two new nuclear weapons.

Still, the former Utah attorney general languished 40 points behind in the polls and raised just $104,000 to Bennett's $2.1 million.

Bennett returned to Utah in October to debate Van Dam 11 times. Beyond that, his relatively low-key campaign consisted of a series of billboards poking fun at his Ichabod Crane looks, campaign committees in each county and a recorded get-out-the-vote phone call Monday night.

Van Dam was philosophical about his long-projected loss. "I'm sorry we're in a state where he doesn't have to compete," Van Dam said. "I'm a trial attorney and I'm used to winning and losing and fighting an uphill battle. I've been through this before."

Van Dam, also a former Salt Lake County attorney said he will be watching Bennett to make sure he follows through on campaign pledges to balance the budget, resolve the nation's health care crisis and restrict future nuclear testing.

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Tribune reporter Kathy

Stephenson contributed to this story.