Copeland said county Republicans should "abso- lutely not" worry that Hogan's ties to EnergySolutions would be a conflict of interest. He said it is no different from any other party operative working for any other Tooele County business.

Candidates' financial disclosures have not yet been filed with the county clerk's office, so it is unclear whether EnergySolutions donated to any of the GOP candidates.

Lawrence also said Joyce Hogan expressed concerns about county planning and economic development adviser Nicole Cline, a transgender woman who was hired as a man but more than a decade ago had a sex-change operation.

"The discussion was (Cline) should not be the face of Tooele County, should never be quoted in the newspaper, should basically be in her office and have limited public contact," Lawrence said. He said Hogan told him "if I didn't make some changes in the personnel in the county, in the next election I would be going down. That was the exact words: 'You will be going down.'

"I don't ask any other employees of the county what they do in their personal time," he said. "I can't stifle a person's career because of some bigoted attitudes that exist in the community. It's funny that I had never heard a complaint against this employee before."

Cline is out of town this week and could not be reached for comment.

Joyce Hogan denied the accusations. "I have never threatened any candidate to work toward their defeat in an election if they did not take my advice," she wrote. "Several months ago I had a conversation with Commissioner Lawrence. He asked me how I felt about Nicole Cline becoming the voice of economic development for Tooele County. I gave it as my opinion that it is the role of the County Commission.

"My comments were about the role of the County Commission, not Ms. Cline, and in no way intended to disparage Ms. Cline. I've always enjoyed a strong professional working relationship with all the commissioners and Ms. Cline and look forward to working with them in the future."

Copeland also scoffs at Lawrence's accusations.

"I'd like to have the opportunity to remind Matt Lawrence that the Republican Party was founded on the emancipation of slavery and has had as its cornerstone since its inception individual rights and the opportunity for those most disadvantaged in our society to be afforded equal rights," Copeland said. "I have a lot of respect for Nicole. She is a great county planner, if not the best then one of the best in the state. Her performance is in no way shaped by her particular gender selection."

Instead, he figures the upsets in the county convention were due to the energy of the challengers and the appeal of new faces.

"If I can point to anything, those challenging the incumbents outworked them," Copeland said. "They were out talking to the delegates early on, and I don't think the incumbents really did that."

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com