McAdams attracts endorsements in Salt Lake County mayor's race

SANDY — Salt Lake County mayoral candidate Ben McAdams announced the support of current and former elected officials at City Hall in Sandy on Tuesday.

Democrat McAdams is a state senator and senior adviser to Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, who is on the list of those endorsing him for county mayor. Support for his candidacy comes from both side of the political aisle, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan said.

In addition to Becker and Dolan, those endorsing McAdams' candidacy at Tuesday's event were Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, Murray Mayor Dan Snarr, Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth, Salt Lake County Deputy Mayor Nicole Dunn, Salt Lake County Councilmen Randy Horiuchi and Jim Bradley, Murray City Councilwoman Krista Dunn, Holladay City Councilman Lynn Pace, Salt Lake City Council Chairman Casey Fitts and former Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch.

McAdams announced his candidacy Nov. 14 as an in-party challenger to state Sen. Ross Romero for the office held by Peter Corroon, who is not seeing re-election.

Corroon, also a Democrat, has not endorsed a candidate. "Ben is a great public leader and I enjoy working with him as both a representative of Salt Lake City and as a state senator. I am also a close friend of Ross Romero and have worked closely with him," the mayor said Tuesday.

An endorsement from Corroon at this point would be quite powerful among Democrats but could be something Corroon will want to avoid, said University of Utah political science Professor Matthew Burbank.

"They're both Democrats in good standing," Burbank said. "They're people that Democrats would like to see do well, like to see achieve a higher aspiration, yet there's only one position available here."

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