In the wake of charges against Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman, Republicans know they have to unite the party if they want to keep a Democrat out of that office.

They just have different ideas on how to accomplish that goal.

The point likely will be decided Tuesday, Oct. 5, at a Salt Lake County Republican Party Central Committee meeting called especially for that reason.

The group met Sept. 11 and made it known that it would continue to support Workman, passing a resolution, 126 to 96, in support of a "fair and speedy trial." With District Attorney David Yocom's call of a special prosecutor to the case, finishing the trial by November's election appears unlikely, which has added to the uneasy feeling of some executive committee members. At least 10 of the 23 believe the issue needs to be reconsidered.

"It's almost like, 'Let's keep trying until we get the response we want,' " Senate District 10 Chairman Ozwald Balfour said Friday at the Salt Lake County Republican Party's Constitution Day Family Barbecue.

Some among the district chairs have said they will stick with Workman until the end, while others wish she would drop out of the race for the sake of the Republican Party.

Richard Kuchinsky, one of the 10 who voted this past week to hold the special meeting, said he would support Workman's removal as mayoral candidate.

By doing so, he said, Workman would be "demonstrating a higher level of integrity and respect for her Republican candidates by eliminating the controversy surrounding her election campaign. . . . Our Republican candidates are facing an uphill battle."

"It's going to kill us," agreed Brad Jowers, another who asked for the meeting. "Guilty or not, the right thing for the party is for her to step down."

Jowers said that about 40 of the 70 precinct chairs that report to him asked him to request the meeting. He said some voters have told him they won't go to political meetings if Workman is there. He also has seen political signs supporting Democratic candidates in the yards of "traditionally strong Republicans."

Others stress that now is not the time to abandon support for Workman.

"We as people cannot ask her to resign. It's her right, this is a democracy and she has every right to run," said Wanda Carrasquillo, chairwoman of Senate District 3.

"This is the time for a political party to come together," Balfour said, adding that he believes people are giving up too easily. "In the political climate that we're in, we need to unify our efforts."

Regardless of what happens at the special meeting, Workman said Friday she is committed to getting the trial over with and won't drop out.

"I can't choose to take my name off the ballot," she said.

The only way Workman's name can be erased is for her to run for president of the United States, pass away or have a doctor diagnose her as ill.

Tiani Coleman, chairwoman of the Salt Lake County Republican Party Central Committee, said a resolution to ask Workman to remove her name from the ballot "would not have any real power to change the ballot or the law or the race."

"I think this is a serious issue . . . voices need to be heard, but they need to be heard by going directly to Mayor Workman," she said.

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E-mail: tpeterson@desnews.com