Republican Ed Alter was elected for the seventh time Tuesday with a healthy lead over his opponent, earning him four more years in an office that he has held for an unprecedented quarter of a century.

Tenured money man Republican state auditor Auston Johnson also won re-election by a wide margin. The 55-year-old accountant has racked up a decade in office.

Both incumbents boasted a two-thirds lead early in the evening with 276 precincts reporting.

Democratic challengers Weber State University department secretary Debbie Hansen for treasurer and UPS driver Carlos Vasquez for auditor have devoted years to Utah's minority party. But neither has much financial management experience.

Alter and Johnson, on the other hand, brought years of training, experience.

Johnson has saved the state millions and kept state and local departments honest. Responding to an increase in white-collar crime, he created a fraud unit and tips hot line.

This coming year he plans to start doing performance audits of various state-funded programs.

Alter manages, invests and borrows billions of taxpayer dollars, maximizing returns while keeping political fallout to a minimum.

The 63-year-old anticipates that Utah's No. 1 challenge will be to meet growing needs for more state buildings, water development and transportation without sacrificing the state's Triple-A bond rating or shortchanging public schools.