But voters still have a few differences to focus on when they cast their June 27 ballot. One is how to fund public education, the other is political endorsements. And these issues now define this tight race in Senate District 9, the first hotly contested Senate election battle in this area for at least three decades.

Bryson Garbett has the backing of House Speaker Greg Curtis, a close personal friend. Most of the sitting senators, including Sandy's departing Sen. Al Mansell and Senate President John Valentine, support his opponent, Wayne Niederhauser.

House and Senate leaders are not best buddies as of late. The recent rift between Curtis and Valentine began over differences on tax policy and the distrust has spread from there.

Valentine insists he doesn't have a problem with Curtis supporting his friend, but he was so concerned about Garbett's ties to the speaker that he met with Garbett privately. He wanted to make sure Garbett wouldn't divulge legislative tactics discussed privately between senators, if he wins the race.

"He assuaged the concerns I had about a close friend of the speaker within my caucus," Valentine said.

For his part, Garbett said he would not be beholden to the speaker or anyone else if elected.

"When I make a decision it will be on how it affects Utahns and how it affects my constituents, not how it affects the speaker of the House," he said.

Garbett and Curtis live in the same neighborhood and attend the same LDS Ward. Their children go to the same schools. And Garbett has given Curtis some hefty political contributions in the past.

Curtis bristled at questions about their friendship.

"What is it about me that all of a sudden it becomes a problem to have a friend in the Senate?" Curtis asked. "I didn't recruit Bryson to run."

Niederhauser has heard the grumbling and understands the concerns but said he will simply ignore the issue.

"I have decided that it is not important to my race right now," he said. "We can talk about that all day long, but I don't think that is going to win the election."

The candidates say that will come down to meeting voters and defining their positions on the key issues. The main political difference between Garbett and Niederhauser is their stances on education funding.

Garbett, who served in the House for two terms in the early 1980s, believes increasing the tax on natural resources is the way to find additional funding for teachers and their classrooms.

Garbett wants to increase the severance taxes on metals, such as gold, placing the money in a protected account where only the interest is used.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, strongly criticized such a proposal saying, "It shows me that he is absolutely uninformed on tax policy. This is nothing more than an appeal to a certain segment of uninformed voters to get them to say 'here is a man with an answer.' "

But Stephenson is not just an average senator. He is the president of the business-supported Utah Taxpayers Association, which has ties to Kennecott Copper. Kennecott also mines gold and would obviously be impacted by a severance tax increase.

Niederhauser also dismisses Garbett's idea.

"It is a tax increase," he said. "The government already has enough money to fund education, we just need to prioritize it."

Niederhauser wants to pass a "zero-based budgeting bill," requiring one-fourth of all government agencies to prioritize their finances each year. He said lawmakers could then root out waste and funnel the money to public education.

"We had the $1 billion surplus and a $1 billion increase in the budget," Niederhauser said. "People are wondering where that money has gone."

Niederhauser likes the idea of offering families private school tuition vouchers, believing it will save public schools money. Garbett isn't as definitive. He may back a voucher bill if he felt it wouldn't harm public education.

"I would have to see a specific proposal," he said.

mcanham@sltrib.com

Early voting

* Why hassle with election day? Beginning today, voters can cast ballots in the primary in advance. Check with your county clerk's office for details and locations. In Salt Lake County: http://www.clerk.slco.org or 801-468-3427.