S.L. 2- AND 4-YEAR COMMISSION RACES ARE APPROACHING WIRE SHIMIZU HOLDS BIG LEAD OVER ROOT AND GARDINER

A three-way campaign with no incumbent running means a wide-open race for the two-year seat on the Salt Lake County Commission - just like in 1986, right?

Apparently not. The 1988 two-year race, according to public opinion polls, has been all but over since summer.Republican M. Tom Shimizu, who held the seat for five years before giving it up in 1986 to run unsuccessfully for Congress, has had a towering lead over rivals Dale Gardiner, a Democrat, and Libertarian Gary Root since the pollsters began tracking the campaign almost five months ago.

A recent poll by Dan Jones & Associates showed Shimizu leading Gardiner by 55 percent to 32 percent. Less than 1 percent of those polled favored Root.

This race has to have Democrats and political observers wondering about what might have been. Democrat Dave Watson beat Republican Merrill Cook, now an independent candidate for governor, for this seat in a tough 1986 campaign when Shimizu did not seek re-election.

Watson was a flamboyant and effective commissioner until his arrest last May on charges of drunken driving and cocaine possession. He later pleaded guilty to reduced charges.

In a controversial move that allowed him to withdraw from a re-election bid and allowed the party to replace him as a candidate, Watson presented a letter from his physician saying that a campaign would put Watson under too much stress.

The Democrats chose Gardiner to replace Watson as their candidate, and county Public Works Director John Hiskey, another Democrat, was appointed to the two-year commission seat in September to fill out the term after Watson's resignationfrom office.

Gardiner, the mayor of Riverton for the past seven years, believes there are really no issues in this campaign that make a difference to voters. Shimizu's consistent 20-plus point lead in the polls is directly attributable to his high name identification, something he gained by spending tens of thousands of dollars on his bid for Congress two years ago, Gardiner says.

Shimizu says high name identification by voters and his catchy campaign slogans certainly help him. But he insists voters pay attention to issues and support him because they like his message and his record as a commissioner.

Root, an electrical engineer making his first run at public office, says there is really only one issue at stake, as illustrated by the three tax-limitation initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot _ do voters want lower taxes and smaller government?

If the answer is yes, then Libertarian Party candidates are the only logical choice because neither of the major parties are prepared to deliver those things, Root says.