Salt Lake County mayoral candidate Peter Corroon drives his slightly beat-up, 10-year-old Ford Explorer from an early-morning campaign stop — where he handed out Krispy Kreme doughnuts to appreciative county public works employees — to ZAP Appreciation Day at Hogle Zoo.

"I need to find a Maverik," he says, passing Chevrons, Texacos, Conocos.

He finds the station he wants and shuffles what appears to be a full deck of credit cards to find the one that will save him a few cents a gallon.

"I'm a penny-pincher," he says as he fills up. "I believe in investing money, not spending money."

The incident is typical of 40-year-old Corroon, a Democrat who is running against Republican Ellis Ivory and independent Merrill Cook.

"He's always ruled his finances with an iron fist," said Corroon's twin brother and business partner, Chris.

The son of a successful New York real estate man and first cousin to erstwhile presidential candidate Howard Dean, Corroon is a methodical man, one who prefers toiling behind the scenes to get things done rather than trumpeting himself in front of the cameras.

"I'm a workhorse, not a show horse," he often says.

The facts bear him out. Barely out of his 30s, Corroon has accomplished a remarkable amount in his education and career. He has bachelor's, master's and law degrees, all from different universities and all in different fields. He has worked in construction, finance, real estate, tax and law. He got both of his advanced degrees while working during the day and going to class at night.

"While other people were out partying, I was busting my hump," he said.

And, oh yeah, Corroon also ran two New York City marathons. His best time was a respectable 3 hours and 23 minutes.

"He's an extremely hard worker," Chris Corroon said.

Peter Corroon is a Salt Lake-based developer in a home-grown company, Red Gate Properties. In accordance with his usual modus operandi, he got started in the development business while employed with a Salt Lake law firm and fixing up a four-plex by night.

"I was living in a trashed apartment, putting on a suit and going to work in the morning," he said. "Then I would come home and take my suit off and put on my jeans and sneakers and work on the property. I felt like I was living a double life. . . . McDonald's was my favorite bathroom."

Red Gate is a small company, consisting basically of the two Corroon brothers. They have completed five projects total, with their proudest achievement being a 25-unit affordable-housing apartment building located at 900 South and 200 West.