Salt Lake mayoral race wide open

Residents of Salt Lake City, the state's largest city and its capital, have a big decision to make this summer and fall.

Who is going to be their next mayor?

And a new public-opinion survey for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV by Dan Jones & Associates shows the nine-candidate field — with four candidates clearly leading the pack — remains wide open with just two months before the Sept. 11 primary.

The top two vote-getters will advance from there to the Nov. 6 final election.

Jones finds that Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson leads with just 23 percent support.

She's followed by current City Councilman Dave Buhler, with 19 percent; state House Minority Leader Ralph Becker and former City Councilman Keith Christensen, both with 13 percent.

A commanding 26 percent — more than any single candidate gets — was still undecided when the poll was finished July 19.

The remaining five mayoral candidates — one wearing a locator anklet for 30 days because of previous misdemeanor convictions, another an anti-gay advocate — get only 5 percent of the vote combined, Jones found.

City dwellers have re-elected every mayor who sought another term for at least the past 25 years. So the decisions made this summer and fall will likely mean eight years or more for the new mayor.

How important is the Salt Lake mayor's job?

Just look at the current mayor, Rocky Anderson. Reflecting his nickname, Anderson's tenure can fairly be described as "rocky."

From lawsuits over highways, to scrabbling over free-speech rights on a sold section of Main Street, to a national campaign to impeach President Bush and fight for worldwide environmental issues, Anderson has proven himself adept at finding controversy. And he's become an expert at grabbing headlines while routinely dissing the press.

City residents may be getting tired of it, ready to vote for a candidate who says he'll stay at home and manage the city as best he can — and not become a near swear word in the halls of the Republican-dominated Utah Legislature.

Buhler actually had a campaign button printed up that says: "I'm not Rocky." Wanting a few of those old Anderson supporters, however, both Wilson and Christensen (who is endorsed by Anderson) find good things to say about the current officeholder.

With four, maybe five, candidates all having a shot in the Sept. 11 primary, voter turnout is critical — especially critical to get your voters turned out.

All the leading candidates have strategies.

And while all say they are campaigning throughout the city, the truth is the two finalists' victories in the primary could well be due to a combination of political party affiliation and geography.