The race for Salt Lake City mayor just got more crowded.

City Council Chairman Dave Buhler, a former Republican state senator who ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 1991, said Monday that he plans to announce his run to replace Mayor Rocky Anderson on Thursday.

Buhler will become the fifth person to declare a run for mayor in the November 2007 election. Also in the race are City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton, County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, former City Councilman Keith Christensen and 24-year-old University of Utah student Nick Bryson.

While Wilson announced her plans to run in September, she will kick off her campaign with an official announcement Wednesday.

Anderson does not plan to seek re-election. When his second term finishes at the end of 2007, he plans to work for a nonprofit advocacy group, either in the field of global warming or human rights.

On Monday, Anderson said he is still unsure exactly what he will do when he is no longer mayor, only that he wants to facilitate "people feeling their power." An empowered citizenry, he said, would have pushed for stronger U.S. action against recent genocides and commitment to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

But while the field of will-runs grows, so does the list of won't-runs. Councilman Eric Jergensen, who had been considered a possible candidate, sent a letter to his supporters this week saying he won't run.

Jergensen's wife, Diane, is pregnant with twins, and the two have a 15-month-old daughter.

"My focus and efforts must be on Diane and our daughter and supporting Diane as we prepare for these additions to our family," he wrote. "For me, nothing can be more important. There are others who can be mayor, but only Diane and I can be parents to this beautiful child and these children to be."

Also out of the running is City Councilman Carlton Christensen. He said Monday he was waiting to decide whether he would run based on Buhler's decision. Now that Buhler is running, Carlton Christensen plans to back Buhler's bid.

Councilwoman Jill Remington Love has also said she will not run.

With the election almost a year away, alliances are already being formed. Democrat Wilson announced this week that she has the backing of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 1004.

Anderson, a Democrat, supports Republican Keith Christensen.

The mayor's race is officially nonpartisan.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com