The councilwoman who fought for four years before succeeding in extending wider health benefits to gay and lesbian partners of Salt Lake County employees won't seek re-election in 2010.

Democrat Jenny Wilson announced Thursday that she will surrender her countywide County Council seat to pursue a full-time profession and preserve time for her husband and two children along with community interests.

While Wilson didn't divulge many details, she pledged to "share plans for a new adventure shortly."

Wilson, the one-time front-runner in the 2007 race for Salt Lake City mayor before falling short in the primary, will leave the County Council two years after Democrats snatched a narrow but course-changing majority on the nine-member panel.

When the left-leaning council took control early this year, it suddenly had the votes to expand rights for labor organizations, to establish an independent commission for redrawing voting boundaries and to dust off Wilson's twice-defeated proposal to extend health benefits to nontraditional partners of county employees.

"I take great pride in the work I have done," she wrote in a statement Thursday, "to protect our environment, expand civil rights, support the county's employees and to reform the system."

Wilson's exodus will leave open the six-year, part-time council seat she won in 2004.

She is the second council member this year who has decided to forgo a 2010 re-election run. Republican Councilman Jeff Allen was the first, announcing in September that he would not seek a second term. The councilman later resigned -- effective at year's end -- citing professional demands at work and personal problems at home.

Republican Councilman David Wilde and Democratic Councilman Joe Hatch also face elections in 2010. Wilde is leaning toward seeking a fourth term. Hatch plans to reveal his political plans Tuesday.

When Wilson leaves office a year from now, her legacy will include ethics and campaign-finance reform, broader benefits for same-sex couples, long-term protection of the Jordan River and open-space preservation.

"People of all of Salt Lake County are really blessed to have her on the council," said Hatch, adding that she would have made a strong candidate. "I'm very sorry she has made the decision not to run. But I can completely understand it."

Wilde has jousted with Wilson several times this year, most recently when she blistered him during budget hearings for suggesting a $5 million cut to Human Services. She called it the most "irresponsible" action she had witnessed on the council.

"My only complaint about Jenny is that I wish there could have been more of a friendly relationship between me and her," he said. "But I think Jenny has been an effective council representative."

Before leaving office, Wilson hopes to create a governing commission for the Jordan River, expand alternatives-to-incarceration programs and provide assistance to families wanting to make their homes more energy efficient.

jstettler@sltrib.com