Oops — not quite a Republican

Daren Jensen will not be running for vice chairman of the Salt Lake County Republicans because he is not registered as a member of the party.

Although he could remain in the race if he registered as a Republican Monday, Jensen said that he does not want to run because of an exemption from the rules. Instead, he said he would announce his withdrawal at a Saturday evening candidate meeting, leaving Milton Witt and Keith Haines as the remaining candidates.

The problem with his registration was brought to light shortly after Friday's filing deadline by supporters of Witt who asked for his disqualification, Jensen said. Until that point, he assumed his filing was complete — as did Chairwoman Tiani Coleman, who assumed he was registered with the party since he served as a county delegate last year and two weeks earlier told him that everything was in order. Despite the lacking registration, she said that she felt it would be unfair to disqualify him for a party clerical error.

"I know, in the spirit of the law, I should be fine," Jensen said. "But I don't want to be a candidate who bends the rules simply to be in the race. It's not that important to me."