With Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman's mounting legal problems, it is not inconceivable or unprecedented that a new candidate for mayor could represent the Republican Party in November.

With no charges filed against Workman as of Friday — District Attorney David Yocom has scheduled a Tuesday morning news conference to announce his decision about filing charges — the mayor maintains that she is in no way considering options beyond running for re-election.

"I am not even going there," she said. "We're moving ahead, the campaign is in full gear."

Even if she were open to the option of stepping aside, replacing Workman on the ballot would be very difficult and could very well lead to increasingly common election rule lawsuits, Utah Elections Director Amy Naccarato said. According to state and county codes, there are only four ways that a candidate can be replaced on the ballot, which include:

• Death

• Improper candidate filing

• Candidate for U.S. president or vice president

• Mental or physical disability, verified by a doctor

If Workman attempted to leave the race for medical reasons, and if other candidates, parties, officials or even county residents then protested, the courts would ultimately decide because the code does not specifically address what qualifies as a "disability," Naccarato said.

In 2002, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen needed a legal opinion from the District Attorney's Office to justify her decision to leave her opponent on the ballot, even though he missed a campaign finance disclosure deadline and, according to state law, should have had his name removed.

Also, dozens of municipal office candidates were eliminated a week before the 2003 election because of confusion about campaign finance disclosure laws. The courts reinstated almost all of them before the election.

"It's certainly possible (that a protest would be filed), and it could possibly end up in court," Naccarato said of Workman's situation. "That's the way elections are going these days, so I'm not at all hesitant to say that."

Swensen said that while she did not want to hazard a guess at hypothetical situations, were it to become an issue, she would most likely have to seek a legal opinion from the District Attorney's office to help clarify the law. In 2002, she made her decision to leave her opponent on the ballot after consulting with county attorneys.

Getting a doctor's note to leave the race has happened once before. Democrat Dave Watson left the county commission race in 1988 a week before the county convention after being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of cocaine. Because he claimed that the race would be detrimental to his health due to stress, the party was legally allowed to replace him.

In Workman's case, the county party's central committee, which has a scheduled meeting a week from Saturday, will first have to decide whether to continue supporting the mayor. Even if they no longer support her, they would not be able to replace her without Workman's cooperation, county Republican Chairwoman Tiani Coleman said.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com