District 3 holds key to Demos taking over County Council

Democrats thrive in Salt Lake County.

County Mayor Peter Corroon is the party's golden boy. The county's portion of the 2nd Congressional District is represented by the state's lone Democratic congressman, Jim Matheson. Fifteen of the 19 Democrats in the 75-seat Utah House live in the county.

And, come Election Day, the Republican-majority Salt Lake County Council could also hop on the blue bandwagon.

Four of the council's nine seats are up for grabs next month. Democrats already hold two council seats not up for election. That means only three Democratic candidates have to win to wrest control of the council from the GOP, and two are incumbents.

"This is going to be as good a Democratic year in Utah as you can get," said Councilman Joe Hatch, a Democrat running for re-election in District 1.

Here's a look at the races:

District 3 (Murray, Taylorsville, West Jordan and the central unincorporated county):

The key to Democrats taking over the council is District 3 where they believe Republican David Wilde, who has served on the council for six years, is vulnerable.

"Our number one target is the District 3 race," said Salt Lake County Democratic chairwoman Megan Risbon.

Unlike other council districts, District 3 is not solidly Democratic or Republican, Risbon said, so anyone could win.

Diane Turner, a 54-year-old Democrat, said voters in District 3 have no idea who represents them on the council, nor do they know the council's responsibilities. If elected, Turner says she will start holding meetings with voters in the district so they know who she is and so she can know what their needs are. "It's important, and it hasn't been done," she said.

Turner said she will also use her expertise from 22 years of work in the juvenile- and criminal-justice system to make better decisions regarding public safety in the county. Her son, Justin Wiley, works as an aide to Councilman Joe Hatch.

Wilde said he wants to continue to build the county's alternatives to incarceration programs, options that would take low-risk inmates out of the county jail and into treatment programs. He said he also wants to keep pushing open-space efforts and expand the county's recycling program.