Cannon says local businessmen "are flocking" to Ivory's cause. "You will see a long list of political" types endorsing him as well — as GOP stalwarts desert Workman. And, promises Cannon, a goodly number of Democrats, too, will soon be publicly endorsing Ivory — people not happy with either Democrat Peter Corroon or independent candidate (former Repub- lican) Merrill Cook.

But will this understandably enthusiastic wave of Ivory love continue?

At it's heart, Workman's troubles are based in a core belief that there's corruption in Salt Lake County government — a government many believe has been run by insiders for the benefit of other insiders, political cronies and monied county interests.

And Ivory is the founder and former president of the state's largest homebuilding company — Ivory Homes. While Ivory Homes has no subdivisions pending before the county now, certainly in the past the firm (now run by Ivory's son) has often been at the county's door — and the Ivorys are well known in county and state political circles.

Corroon and Cook clearly see Ivory as a legitimate challenger — they are already taking swipes at him, saying a county run by a developer is not an improvement over Workman. But will that mud stick? That question is just one of many political "what if's."

What if Ivory — using his own pledged $400,000 — mails a ballot write-in sticker with his name on it to every household in the county? What if Ivory, along with the state GOP, call into tens of thousands of Republican-voting homes just before the election, encouraging people to vote for President Bush, Sen. Bob Bennett, gubernatorial candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. and congressional candidates John Swallow, Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop and Ellis Ivory?

What if Ivory is seen in TV ads endorsed by and standing next to well-respected GOP businessmen and politicians? What if the cause of electing a write-in Republican, certainly a novelty, really takes off?

Well, we'll see.

But remember this, too. Citizens seem to be sincerely disgusted and angry over the county scandals. And those in charge during the scandals were Republicans. Certainly not Ivory himself, but Republicans just the same. Is there a voter-revenge factor?

The county's politics are changing, becoming more moderate. Workman defeated Democrat Karen Crompton only 52 percent to 48 percent in the 2000 elections. That same year, then-GOP Gov. Mike Leavitt, on his way to a third, four-year term, actually lost Salt Lake County to Democratic chal- lenger Bill Orton. In 2002, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, won the Salt Lake County portion of his 2nd Congressional District — which is GOP-leaning — with 60 percent of the vote.