SALT LAKE CITY -- Republican candidates in Utah's swing districts will receive special attention from Libertarian candidates as a result of the Utah GOP's loss to Utah Democrats in the Fair Representation Challenge.

In advance of the candidate filing period, which begins Tuesday, March 7, the Libertarian Party of Utah announced that the Utah Republican Party is the incumbent party that did the least to make elections in Utah more competitive and representative.

In addition to inaction by Republican legislators to make elections in Utah more competitive and representative, the LPUtah's Chairman Rob Latham cited two more reasons for the party's decision:

*The introduction of the anti-democratic Senate Bill 156, sponsored by Republican state senator Howard Stephenson and co-sponsored by most Republican state senators, which purported to achieve a "soft repeal" of the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution providing for the direct election of U.S. Senators.

*The audacity of Republican state representative Greg Hughes to claim during a committee debate that the makeup of the State of Utah's legislature is a "fair representation" of Republicans and Democrats in Utah, despite the clear mathematical underrepresentation of Democrats when comparing votes to legislative seats.

Because the Utah Republican Party lost the Fair Representation Challege, Latham is urging Libertarian candidates in swing districts to target likely Republican voters and deny Republican candidates a win in the upcoming general election.

"Libertarians are looking forward to this campaign season," says Latham, "as Republican politicians have much more to answer for besides rigging elections."

Several commentators noted an unusually high level of arrogance displayed by Republican legislators during the general session. "The seeming arrogance and impunity of Republican politicians is a product of uncompetitively-drawn legislative districts," Latham says.

Utah's Democratic legislators shouldn't take too much comfort in their win. "Republican legislators did more to lose the Fair Representation Challenge than Democratic legislators did to win," says Latham.

"Democratic legislators couldn't even bother to support studying more competitive and representative electoral systems during the interim session as they did last year," Latham says. "They are pitiful, and Democratic incumbents and candidates will not be left alone in uncompetitive districts."

The LPUtah's Chairman is encouraging Utah voters who want more competitive and representative elections in Utah to question candidates about fair, multi-party electoral systems -- such as the ones being created at the behest of the U.S. government in Afghanistan and Iraq -- during the campaign season.