There are Republican delegates in Utah County who Jacqueline Degaston would like to reach but she says her party is making her do it the hard way.

The delegates were chosen during last Tuesday's caucuses and will be voting on candidates for county, state and federal offices over the next month and a half at party conventions.

Because Utah, and especially Utah County, is so predominantly Republican, delegate votes can all but decide the winner of an election in November.

"I realize it's partly inner-party politics and that's what I'm running against," Degaston said. "It's just a crummy rule they shouldn't have voted for."

It forces challengers with less money than incumbents to pay up for postage or other means to contact delegates.

County Republican Chairwoman Marian Monnahan says it's not an insider play to keep power in the hands of incumbents. Many delegates said they wouldn't give out their e-mail addresses at all if the party handed them out as a list to candidates.

In the past, the lists that have been passed out end up being used beyond the scope of a campaign, Monnahan said, and that resulted in delegates getting spammed.

This year, the delegates are "dead-set on privacy" and the county party and their state counterparts are complying by withholding e-mail addresses.

"We just hesitate to do it since we promised everybody, 'No, we won't hand those out,' " Monnahan said. "We're not giving them to anyone at this point."

But Degaston says Curt Bramble may already have an advantage: Susie Bramble, his wife, is the county party secretary. She isn't accusing the power couple of insider moves, but as a lawyer she said the situation is inappropriate.

"You don't have to prove that the other person did something wrong, you merely have to show the opportunity exists," she said.

Monnahan staunchly defends Susie Bramble as a professional.

"She won't let him have them," she said.

The state GOP organization is already under fire for sending out a fundraising mailer for five area incumbents.

The flier lists Rep. Ken Sumsion, R-American Fork, Rep. Keith Grover, R-Provo, Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, Rep. Chris Herrod, R-Provo, and Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem.

Jared Sepulveda, who is running against Sumsion in District 56, told The Associated Press that voters who look at the mailers could be influenced to vote for the candidates who are mentioned on the ad.

"They are just telling you who they want you to vote for," Sepulveda said. "If they want to do this after the primaries are done, that's fine. But not now."

State GOP head Stan Lockhart told the AP that the mailer was supposed to go out before the March 17 candidate filing deadline, but party workers were so busy with caucus preparations that the mailing was delayed. By the time it was sent, the challengers were officially on the ballot.