Tuesday Utah voters head to the polls to vote in primary elections. We asked our insiders and readers to "call their shot" in the U.S. Senate, 1st Congressional District, Attorney General and Salt Lake County Mayor's races.



Some anonymous comments:

"Money = votes, especially when most voters are apathetic and uninformed."

"Liljenquist just doesn't have the traction he needs to upset a sitting Senator like Hatch. His best bet was at convention and when he couldn't close that deal, it was all over except the whining."

"Liljenquist was in a tough position, fighting Hatch's better name recognition and bigger war chest. Hatch understood that debating more than once would simply help Liljenquist so he refused. And when complained about it, he came across as looking petulant. Jason Chaffetz was able to beat incumbent Chris Cannon but only because it was a unique confluence of anti-incumbent mood in the electorate and political ossification by Cannon. It will not work very often, especially when the incombent hears the rumblings well beforehand and makes the desired changes. Hatch is one of the best politicians to ever come out of this state and he would not make the mistakes that Cannon and Bennett did."

"Too many people don't pay attention to what's is "actually" going on around them, politically. They recognize a politician's name and thereby simply vote for the person who they believe they know... even if that elected official has become a career-politician and more concerned about his own ego and financial advancement than the American people."

"Looks like Orrin's Seniority argument actually worked. In '95 he promised he wouldn't run in '12 so he'll use the same argument in 2018 as well."

"Anybody who thinks Dan Liljenquist is going to win this primary should not be considered a 'political insider. All he achieved unfortuntely was spending $400,000 of his own money."

"The establishment is back in power until the next caucus meetings."

"Disappointingly, the Liljenquist campaign was one of poor strategy. Instead of talking about Sen. Hatch all of the time they should have tried to find reasons to vote for Dan that would resonate. Alas, Dan's campaign calendar appears stuck on Saturday April, 21st 2012."

Some anonymous comments:

"Combe's name recognition in Weber County puts him over the top."

"Does this race matter?"

"You have to admire the gumption of the 1st District Democrats. TWO people competing to be the next sacrificial lamb to Rob Bishop. The only way Combe/McAleer will have a shot is if he/she can somehow convince voters that wearing vests with your suits (as Rob frequently does) is akin to socialism."

"Who cares?"

"I wasn't even sure the Democrats had put up one candidate for Rob Bishop's seat, let alone two."

"Donna McAleer brings more excitement to the race. She is the Democrats' Mia Love... but hasn't got the media attention that Love has received. This race will be tight because Ryan Combe has the name recognition in Northern Utah and Salt Lake County's progressives -- due to the 2011 redistricting -- don't get a vote in this primary race."

"Even though I'm a Republican, I went to their debate. I was curious what a democrat debate would be like. Donna McAleer is one impressive woman. I have no doubt she'd get the job done regardless of our differing positions. However, if I wanted a hug and someone to listen to my sorrows, I'd go to Combe. After watching to entire debate, I'm grateful for Rob Bishop."



Some anonymous comments:

"Negative advertising, unfortunately, works."

"It is going to be an extremely tight race and the counting won't be over until very late, but ultimately, Reyes will beat Swallow. Swallow can't shake off the stench of anointed successor and his many ethical gaffes have exposed his weaknesses. The office will stay Republican but there will be some new blood in the AG's office."

"Although both would be acceptable as attorney general, Reyes is the better choice. He will need something to overcome Swallow's better name recognition and establishment endorsement. I think those slimy ads charging Reyes with unethical conduct may be just enough to turn the public against Swallow."

"John Swallow has the money and the connection to the Attorney General's office."

"John Swallow is the 'look at me' canidate. Pretty sad."

"Sean ran a campaign for student body president."

"John swallow has been on tv and radio while Reyes seems unable to catch any steam. The Reyes campaign is so far off message this election won't even be close."

"The race for Atty. General has been the biggest disappointment this year. Both campaigns continue to reach for new lows in ways to demonize their opponent. Sadly, there isn't another choice in the primary."

"Frankly, I don't trust either of them, especially on the issues of prosecuting business-related fraud, but Swallow seems more willing to pander to monied interests, which cannot be tolerated in electing the state's top prosecutor."



Some anonymous comments:

"Despite all his flaws -- which are MANY, Winder just has too much name recognition to lose this one. Crockett isn't a compelling candidate and can't galvanize voters beyond his limited base. Winder's flaws aren't quite big enough to make voters look elsewhere. But he won't win the general against McAdams."

"West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder would bring a bit of baggage to the Salt Lake County Mayoral race... He does, however, still have a reputation of being a very good mayor for WVC."

"Winder+bagage."

"Name recognition will be the key in this race. As they say, all press is good press! The Richard Burwash incident will be ignored by primary voters as with most ethical issues in Utah Republican politics."

"Winder should never be allowed to hold a position of influence again after his admitted lying in the "Burwash" incident. Look, politicians have big egos. Big egos often lead to ethical problems, and frankly, when a politician admits to lying on one issue, you can be pretty sure there are 10 other things he's been lying about that he didn't confess. Winder would be another Workman scandal waiting to happen."

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Respondents include - 

Fred Adams, Stuart Adams, Jess Agraz, Scott Anderson, Laura Arellano, Patrice Arent, Bette Arial, Neil Ashdown, Bruce Baird, Tom Barberi, Heather Barney, Steve Barth, Jeff Bell, Tom Berggren, Mike Bertelsen, Ron Bigelow, Emily Bingham-Hollingshead, Rob Bishop, Laura Black, Nanci Bockelie, Charles Bradley, Jim Bradley, Ralph Brown, Chris Bleak, Curt Bramble, Joel Briscoe, Ralph Brown, Aaron Browning, Dave Buhler, Ken Bullock, Ric Cantrell, Maura Carabello, Marty Carpenter, Rebecca Chavez-Houck, Kay Christensen, David Clark, Kim Coleman, Peter Corroon, Tim Cosgrove, Fred Cox, Lew Cramer, Gene Davis, Richard Davis, Brad Daw, Alan Dayton, Margaret Dayton, Mike Deaver, Brad, Dee, Joseph Demma, Jake Dennis, Dan Deuel, Jeff Dixon, Brian Doughty, Carl Downing, Randy Dryer, Susan Duckworth, Donald Dunn, Alan Eastman, Becky Edwards, Scott Ericson, Chase Everton, Jessica Fawson, Janice Fisher, Wendy Fisher, Lorie Fowlke, Ronald Fox, Claire Francis, Ryan Frandsen, Adam Gardiner, Jordan Garn, Ernie Gamonal, Luke Garrott, Dave Gessel, Sheryl Ginsberg, Natalie Gochnour, Robert Grow, Karen Hale, David Hansen, Neil Hansen, Joe Hatch, Jeff Hartley, Dan Hauser, Lynn Hemmingway, Deidre Henderson, Neal Hendrickson, Casey Hill, Lyle Hillyard, Kory Holdaway, Randy Horiuchi, Ben Horsley, Bruce Hough, Scott Howell, Greg Hughes, Miriam Hyde, Allison Isom, Casey Jackson, Eric Jergensen, Mike Jerman, Jonathan Johnson, Michael Jolley, Gordon Jones, Leslie Jones, Pat Jones, Kirk Jowers, Jeremy Keele, Brian King, Scott Konopasek, Steve Kroes, Chris Kyler, Carter Livingston, Fred Lampropoulos, Clark Larsen, Douglas Larson, David Litvack, Larry Lunt, Matt Lyon, Ben McAdams, Daniel McCay, Gayle McKeachnie, JT Martin, Maryann Martindale, Jason Mathis, Bob Mayhew, Karen Mayne, Bret Milburn, Derek Miller, Rob Miller, Ethan Millard, Brett Millburn, Karen Morgan, Jeffery Morton, Mike Mower, Holly Mullen, Wayne Niederhauser, Mike Noel, Randy O'Hara, Ralph Okerlund, James Olsen, Val Oveson, Kelly Patterson, John Pearce, Helen Peters, Karen Peterson, Frank Pignanelli, Becky Pirente, Marie Poulson, Jason Powers, Tami Pyfer, Joe Pyrah, Mike Reberg, Jill Remington Love, Lauren Richards, Holly Richardson, Robin Riggs, James Roberts, Luz Robles, Ross Romero, Carol Sapp, Don Savage, Bryan Schott, Shauna Scott-Bellaccomo, Jay Seegmiller, Jennifer Seelig, Patrick Shea, Randy Shumway, Soren Simonsen, Jeremy Slaughter, Brendan Smith, Brian Somers, Carol Spackman-Moss, Robert Spendlove, Barbara Stallone, Howard Stephenson, David Stringfellow, Mike Styler, Shinika Sykes, Juliette Tennert, Gary Thorup, Kevin Van Tassell, Royce Van Tassel, Doug Thompson, Michael Waddoups, Laura Warburton, Chuck Warren, Christine Watkins, LaVarr Webb, Todd Weiler, Alan West, Mark Wheatley, Larry Wiley, Ted Wilson, Carl Wimmer, Mike Winder, Travis Wood, Thomas Wright, Crystal Young-Otterstrom

Results from the UtahPolicy.com/KSL Insider poll can be heard on KSL Radio every Friday and are published on Utah Policy.com every Monday.