Billings eked out a win over the political neophyte Bailey. Now the two already are trading blows, with Bailey taking the lead.

"Bring it on," Bailey said in a lengthy news release Monday. "Provo is ready for a change and I am ready to listen to the concerns of citizens and provide well-thought-out alternatives to the current issues."

Billings has said he will run an aggressive campaign and try to avoid any mudslinging.

"We've already seen personal attacks, which is unfortunate," Billings said at his recent campaign kickoff. "My plan is to not initiate personal attacks, but we will respond to them."

Billings has labeled Bailey as a union candidate since the retired firefighter is running his campaign on a good portion of union funds.

It is "ironic that Billings, hopefully the last of big government spenders, says he is not going to run a negative campaign and then accuses me of wanting to unionize the city," Bailey said.

Two lesser-known candidates, Jim Vein and Andrew Thompson, round out the field.

- Todd Hollingshead