A former Salt Lake County councilman and a party dissident have both decided to withdraw from the race to chair the Salt Lake County Republican Party.

Steve Harmsen removed his name from the race Monday in an effort to smooth the path to the chairmanship for former Utah Sen. James Evans. On Wednesday, Mike Ridgway withdrew his name.

Ridgway also withdrew his name from consideration for the state central committee and resigned as a delegate for the county party. During the past six months, his vocal criticism of the party's decision to support Ellis Ivory in the 2004 county mayoral race, among other things, has led to conflicts with county party leaders. The run-ins resulted in his removal from the county central committee in December and the state central committee last month. A challenge to his delegate status prior to the April 30 county convention was also expected.

"I put my name in there because I wanted that option," Ridgway said Wednesday evening. "But for now, the best for me is to take the stance that I'm not in the race."

Harmsen, who served one term as an at-large member of the Salt Lake County Council, said he decided to support Evans after a Monday meeting between the two.

The two withdrawals mean that Evans, the former state senator from Rose Park, will face relative unknown Patrick Reagan unless someone else files before the April 22 deadline.

"We sat down and discussed our vision," Harmsen said of Evans. "I found out that we both have the same goals, and I think he'll be a good chair."

Evans said that while he "never takes an election for granted," it was "party insiders" who urged him and Harmsen to come to an agreement that would not force party members to decide between the two candidates. Primarily, both agreed that the party needed to be organized differently — although Evans refused to clarify how that would happen — to position it for continued success.

"The landscape in Salt Lake County is changing, and one of the major focuses we both have is making sure that the organizational structure is adapting to that changing landscape," Evans said.

Reagan, a small business owner, said that he is running to ensure that the party activities forward the Republican agenda. Instead of in-fighting, he hoped to "promote unity" among party members with "forthright and open" meetings.

"I am running to make sure the Salt Lake County part stays true to its mission of identifying and supporting candidates who represent Republican ideals," Reagan said.

Along with candidates dropping out, an unexpected but well-known candidate dropped in. Daren Jensen, who fought a protracted child custody battle against the state in 2003 over whether his son, Parker, should receive chemotherapy treatment, announced he is running for vice chair. He will run against Milton Witt, a member of the county executive committee.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com