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2004 Salt Lake County mayoral election

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2004 Salt Lake County mayoral election

← 2000 November 2, 2004 2008 →
Turnout76.27%[1]
 
Nominee Peter Corroon Ellis Ivory Merrill Cook
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Popular vote 174,580 153,536 22,524
Percentage 49.50% 42.54% 6.39%

Mayor before election

Alan Dayton
Republican

Elected mayor

Peter Corroon
Democratic

The 2004 Salt Lake County mayoral election was held to elect the Mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah on November 2, 2004, alongside the presidential, House of Representatives, Senate and gubernatorial elections. This marked the second election to the office since the post was created in 2000.

In 2000, Nancy Workman was elected as the first county mayor. However, in June 2004, she came under investigation for hiring two county-paid employees who had worked for her daughter at the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Valley, resulting in her being placed on paid administrative leave on July 9, replaced with Deputy Mayor Alan Dayton.

Democrat Peter Corroon won the election as one of two Democrats to win the county during the election cycle, alongside gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson Jr., while the county backed Republicans George W. Bush for president and Bob Bennett for Senator.

Candidates

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Democratic Party

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  • Peter Corroon, businessman

Republican Party

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  • Ellis Ivory, businessman

Dropped out

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  • Nancy Workman, former County Mayor (2001–2004)

Despite being placed on administrative leave, Workman still remained the Republican candidate and refused to withdraw. However, after revelations that she had paid her daughter's former boyfriend for county computer work that was never done, Salt Lake County GOP voted on October 5 to withdraw support for her, instead supporting Ivory, who until then was running as a write-in candidate.[2] On October 12, Workman filed papers with County Clerk Sherrie Swensen to officially withdraw from the race, including a note from her physician, Philip Roberts, saying she was "disabled" and unable to continue.[3] Swensen rejected the county GOP attempt to certify Ivory as their candidate, forcing the party to hold an emergency central committee meeting and succeeding a week before the election, despite lawsuits from Democratic Party.[4][5]

Independent

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Personal Choice

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  • F. Joseph Irish

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Peter
Corroon
Ellis
Ivory
Nancy
Workman
Merrill
Cook
Deseret News/KSL[6] October 7, 2004 306 ±5.5% 34% 32% 10% 6%

Results

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2004 Salt Lake County mayoral general election results[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Peter Corroon 174,580 49.50% +1.94%
Republican Ellis Ivory 150,015 42.54% −9.9%
Write-ins Ellis Ivory 3,521
Independent Merrill Cook 22,524 6.39%
Personal Choice F. Joseph Irish 4,020 1.14%
Total votes 366,706 100% +17.5%

References

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  1. ^ "Salt Lake County Clerk – November 2, 2004 General Election". slco.org. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  2. ^ Ivory building support
  3. ^ Demos, Cook angered by Workman 'disability'
  4. ^ Corroon opposes a lawsuit over ballot
  5. ^ Corroon is ahead of Ivory
  6. ^ Deseret News/KSL
  7. ^ "Salt Lake County Clerk – November 2, 2004 General Election". slco.org. Retrieved August 19, 2020.