The first-term incumbent was on his way late Tuesday to a big win over Democratic challenger Greg Skordas.

Shurtleff said he has made a deliberate effort to get beyond party lines to reach out to independents and Democrats.

"I owe a duty to the people to be independent," said Shurtleff.

A Brigham Young University exit poll indicated the Republican sneaked across the aisle to pick up 19 percent of the Democratic vote and a majority of those describing themselves as independent. Conservatives overwhelmingly voted for Shurtleff, who also picked up most of the self-described moderate vote.

He wasn't particularly surprised by the wide margin of victory over the Democrat, a first-time candidate.

His 7-year-old daughter, Annie, seemed a lot more excited, jumping up into her father's arm, saying "You won, You won," when the first exit-poll results were announced on television.

Skordas acknowledged he lost some of his Democratic base because he represented Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman against charges of misuse of public monies.

"It definitely killed our momentum," he said, but he insisted he would make the same decision if he had it to do over again.

"I've worked my whole career to earn the respect that people will come to me on those kind of [high-profile] cases," Skordas said in a recent interview.

Shurtleff, though, said his opponent's decision to take the Workman case was a "miscalculation."

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Tribune reporters Brandon Griggs and Matt Canham contributed to this report.