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Updated 7:25 AM- Both skirted controversy. Both banked on an old-fashioned foot campaign and a steady message. And both promised a softer tone at City Hall.

Now, Ralph Becker and Dave Buhler will face off this fall to succeed liberal lion Rocky Anderson as Salt Lake City's mayor.

Seizing the late momentum, Becker swamped the field Tuesday with nearly 40 percent of the vote. Buhler snagged 28 percent, according to unofficial results.

That left early front-runner Jenny Wilson outside looking in as she fizzled in a bid to follow her father to the mayor's chair.

What was perhaps surprising, since they were the top two money raisers, was Wilson (23 percent) and Keith Christensen (8 percent) failed to make the finale.

Surprised by the massive margin, Becker pledged to run the same race in the general election.

"We have been feeling this wave coming our way," the Utah House Democratic leader said amid cheers from his campaign headquarters. "I attribute it to getting out and walking door to door, this whole city - meeting people and listening to what people's aspirations and concerns are. It's incredibly good fortune."

Buhler, a former GOP state senator and two-term city councilman, is the first capital Republican in 16 years to make it to a mayoral general election. In 1991, Buhler lost to Democrat Deedee Corradini.

"All day [Tuesday], I felt like we could make it," he said, stressing that, as a moderate, he can prevail. "I'm counting on people to see past the party label and vote for me because I'll do the best job."

The primary saw 29 percent turnout, which is sure to spike with school vouchers on the ballot when voters head back to the polls Nov. 6.

Wilson said she expected a tough contest, adding she never thought she was the only one who could run the city.

"The campaign generated a great, collective dialogue," she said, "and I'm proud to be a part of that."

Still, the result harbors a familiar sting for the Wilsons: a come-from-ahead loss. In his bid for governor in 1988, former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson blew a 25-point lead.

Jenny Wilson, who will return to her seat on the Salt Lake County Council, said she will endorse Becker since they have the same constituencies.

Despite holding Anderson's endorsement and outspending the field with more than $600,000, Christensen finished a distant fourth, failing to crack a double-digit percentage.

"I'm disappointed that the effort that so many people put into this didn't translate into votes," said the businessman and former city councilman who shed his GOP affiliation. ''I didn't have a natural base of either [party]. And people looked at me and said I wasn't Democratic or Republican enough."

Anderson said if Becker wants his endorsement, "he's got it."

"He'd bring tremendous intelligence and dignity to the office," the mayor said. "Ralph has a very informed, forward-looking, positive approach, which is exactly the opposite of what I've seen from Dave Buhler during eight years on the City Council."

Anderson said he was not surprised at Wilson's showing - "It was hers to lose and she lost it," he said - and he argued his Sunday opinion piece in The Salt Lake Tribune about the trials of serving as mayor with young children did not affect the outcome.

"It had nothing to do with sexism," he said. "Most people saw through that. [Wilson's response] was a pretty cheap, political ploy."

Conventional wisdom was that the op-ed could give Wilson, who has two boys 5 and 2, a "mommy bounce" - a sympathy vote. But the reverse may have proved true. Or, as Hinckley Institute of Politics Director Kirk Jowers opined, Wilson's support simply had "plateaued."

Ted Wilson downplayed Anderson's parental controversy. "It was a dust-up - maybe a little unfortunate at the end of the race," he told Fox 13. "But everybody saw Jenny's spunk."

Buhler, whose playful ads helped spice his persona, landed most Republicans and Mormons in campaign polls - a trend that likely continued Tuesday. He says he is a crossover candidate who can lure voters of all stripes.

"I've worked on city issues every day over the past eight years. That gives me an advantage."

--- * CATHY MCKITRICK contributed to this story.