So he's somewhat stumped to find himself in a primary contest with Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner.

"I've been puzzled since Day One," says Thomas, who has spent four years representing District 18, which straddles parts of Davis and Weber counties.

"I've certainly done a lot for law enforcement over the years," Thomas says.

But Greiner, who is council chairman of Utah Peace Officer Standards & Training Academy (POST) and a past president of the Utah Chiefs of Police Association, says he's challenging Thomas at the request of friends in law enforcement.

"There is a lot of frustration with him," Greiner said. "If we can't get him to work for us - and he hasn't for four years - then we'll get someone who will."

The June 27 primary could be close. At the state convention, Thomas had 51 percent of the delegates' vote and Greiner 49 percent.

Greiner faults Thomas for not championing a House bill this past session that would have funded drug task forces statewide. He says Thomas "ignored us."

Thomas, however, says he was not even aware of the bill, which didn't make it far in the Senate. "They never talked to me about that bill."

Greiner also says Thomas, as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that deals with criminal justice, cut $500,000 out of the POST budget, a claim Thomas disputes.

"There was no $500,000 cut out of POST. In fact, they got increases . . . in almost every area, and we funded additional helicopters."

Thomas, a former prosecutor, points to a recent Utah Sheriff's Association Executive Award he was given.

That, in part, had to do with his leadership in jail reform.

Because of legislation he pushed, the Senate president appointed a task force that is now looking at how to fix the system, he says. The sheriffs want jail-depreciation costs to be part of the formula for setting state reimbursement, and that now appears likely, Thomas says.

"I think I've done an excellent job in law enforcement."

Counters Greiner: "Dave and I have a fundamental disagreement about his contribution to law enforcement these past four years."

Thomas has not always voted the way Greiner's employer, Ogden, has liked.

In the 2005 legislative session, he voted to change redevelopment law to prohibit the use of eminent domain for economic development.

That put an end to Ogden's effort to buy homes in an low-income neighborhood downtown to assemble a piece of land for a new Wal-Mart Superstore.

And in the 2006 session, Thomas voted against legislation carried by another Weber County senator for Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey and his administration.

Ogden's police and firefighter associations had argued against the bill, which ultimately passed and was signed into law.

It gives the city the right to dissolve the Civil Service Commission, although the Ogden's City Council passed a resolution this spring saying it has no intention of doing so.

"If you're a police officer or fireman, somebody who puts their lives at risk for the community, I don't think it's fair you just get fired without due process," Thomas says. "What we should have been doing . . . is saying all cities [must] have one."

Greiner says neither the redevelopment issue nor the Civil Service Commission bill was a factor in his decision to challenge Thomas.

Both candidates put transportation and education at the top of the priority lists for the next Legislature.

The police chief says the time he has spent at the Capitol - he has been there about two days a week during each session for nine years - prepared him well to make sure Davis and Weber counties get the funding they need for highways.

"We did get $51 million, and that's a good start," he says.

There's no reason Utah should be at the bottom of per-pupil funding for public education year after year, Greiner says. "We need to be competitive on a national basis."

The Legislature had a $1.2 billion surplus and found a way to give $500,000 to the Utah Golf Association, says Greiner, a member of the association. "But we can't take care of dental needs or pencils in the classrooms. What's going on?"

Thomas says it is one of his top priorities to ensure Davis and Weber County's major highway projects remain on schedule.

"It is a constant struggle to ensure that Davis and Weber counties get their fair share." he says. "In the past, we haven't."

Thomas is a proponent of local control and argues against unfunded mandates from the federal government.

He also has been an advocate for tax reform and favors reducing the state's income tax, as has been proposed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.

Voters in District 18, he says, benefit from having him in leadership positions - something that was lacking for years when the seat was held by Democrat Ed Allen of Ogden, whom Thomas defeated four years ago.

Greiner, however, says district residents need a senator who spends time on their issues.

"Sixty percent of his work at the Legislature is to help county government, particularly Summit County," Greiner says.

Thomas argues that if he carries legislation focused on county government, it benefits Weber and Davis counties as well as Summit. Often, it's at the request of the Utah Association of Counties.

"I obviously run things I feel I know something about."

kmoulton@sltrib.com