"I strongly believe in a woman's right to choose," she said, expressing concern about attempts to weaken Roe v. Wade in the federal courts.

Three candidates did not show up for Wednesday's event: Centro Civico Mexicano director John Renteria, consultant Robert Muscheck and retired engineer Rainer Huck.

Renteria recently served two weeks' jail time on a probation violation, and although he said he will continue to run despite the legal problems, he has not yet officially filed for candidacy. He is on a home ankle-monitoring system.

Muscheck has an injunction keeping him off Edison Elementary School property because faculty accused him of regularly showing up to intimidate them, including using anti-gay and misogynistic slurs. And Huck has referred to gay rights issues as special-interest politics.

Bogart McAvoy, a West Hollywood, Calif., resident who plans to move to Salt Lake City before the election and vote here, said he showed up to put faces to names. Although he said gay rights and women's issues are not at the top of his agenda — he is mostly concerned with overdevelopment, traffic and the environment — they do "reflect the spirit of a community," he said.

He said he was generally pleased with the slate of candidates and he has no current favorite, though Christensen's dropping of the Republican label piqued his interest.

Voter Brenda Hancock said she is a strong advocate of "choice and privacy for women and families, and equal rights for all people." She said she started the evening with two favorite candidates — she wouldn't name them — and the forum strengthened that support. Still, she said, she is undecided.

"I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the candidates showed some sensitivity to the issues," she said. "Some were better than others, of course."

The crowded field of candidates will be narrowed to two in a Sept. 11 primary election. The general election will be Nov. 6.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com