Mayoral hopeful eschews labels

Editor's note: The Deseret Morning News is running a series of profiles of announced candidates for Salt Lake City mayor. The newspaper continues that series today.

Third in a seven-part series.

Keith Christensen is fighting a battle of images in his campaign for Salt Lake City mayor, caught between the picture he paints of himself as an experienced business and civic leader and another image he's trying to shake — Mormon and Republican — that pundits see as a liability in Salt Lake City politics.

He used to be Republican, but now he isn't. And while he was raised LDS and is still a member of the LDS Church who expresses pride in his Mormon heritage, he is not active in the church.

The capital city has not elected a Republican mayor since Jake Garn in 1971. Christensen, a former Salt Lake City Council member, has long been a registered Republican, but earlier this month, he dropped the affiliation, declaring himself an independent. He's never held a partisan elected office and is backed both by Garn, a Republican and former U.S. senator, and Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, a Democrat.

"Right now, there's only one thing those two guys agree on, and that's this mayoral race," Christensen said.

As for religious affiliation, surveys show that 54 percent of residents within the city do not identify themselves as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the last LDS mayor was Ted Wilson, elected in 1976. Christensen was raised LDS but says, "I'm not involved in the church today in what I would call an active way."

In dealing with the lingering effects of those erstwhile associations, Christensen brushes off his political and religious ties, and he and his supporters are quick to say the conventional wisdom doesn't apply for a man they see as an unconventional candidate.

"I'm the only candidate that has never been partisan," Christensen said. "I'm the only candidate that is not a political operative. I'm not claiming that I want to represent Democrats or Republicans. I want to represent both."

Christensen, 56, instead focuses on his experience. He served eight years on the City Council, from 1994 to 2002. He was an attorney from 1978 to 1988 but has made most of his money running Christensen Industries, a manufacturer of aircraft parts in Salt Lake City. He also owns 31 Top Stop convenience stores in Utah and Idaho with his business partner.

An aviation enthusiast who has been a pilot since age 16, Christensen is the current past chairman of the city's airport board and is a former chairman of the Utah Air Travel Commission.