Workman's race likely a cruise

In this election year of George W. Bush and John Kerry and Olene Walker and Marty Stephens and Jim Matheson and myriad other high-profile candidates, Nancy Workman is a very big fish in a relatively small pond.

Workman, the incumbent Salt Lake County mayor, announced Thursday that, as expected, she will seek another four-year term.

"I'll be honest with you, I think Nancy will be very, very difficult to beat," said Salt Lake County Councilman and prominent Democrat Randy Horiuchi. "Her name recognition is very high, she's amassed a lot of money, and . . . when you look at all that political activity going on in one year it's going to be very difficult to unseat an incumbent, especially a Republican in a Republican county."

Democratic real estate developer Peter Corroon announced last month that he will challenge Workman, and most observers say he faces a daunting challenge. Workman has an estimated war chest of $300,000 where Corroon is just getting started. What's more, in a race that will likely often be overlooked in the course of hot presidential, gubernatorial and congressional contests, Workman's name recognition is pure gold.

"Peter does have an uphill battle, but hey — this is America," Horiuchi said. "Anything can happen."

Several Democratic Party devotees have approached former congressman Bill Orton in hopes that he would use his considerable — and generally favorable — name recognition to challenge Workman, which would immediately have put the contest on a more even footing.

"There have been a lot of people who have wanted me to jump in; let's put it that way," Orton said. "(But) it's not fair to the public if I run and say I can do the job when I'm not sure I can do the job."

Orton's doubts have nothing to do with his mental or political acumen. Rather, they stem from an incident eight years ago wherein he was attacked by a disturbed Capitol Hill handyman, crushing five of his spinal discs. Since then he has been in almost constant severe pain, limiting his activities.

Orton is exploring different treatments and allowed as how he might jump back into the political arena should they be successful (Orrin Hatch, for example, may want to watch his back in 2006).

Rather than winning the mayor's office, many county Democrats are placing their hopes in the nine-member County Council. Right now the council has only three Democrats, but challengers have already materialized in the two races in which Democrats view Republicans as most vulnerable: at-large Councilman Steve Harmsen and District 4 (east-side) Councilman Russell Skousen.