That was the Democratic rallying cry Saturday as the party pledged to wrestle control of the Salt Lake County Council from Republicans, who now enjoy a 5-4 majority.

“I'm tired of my five Republican colleagues,” piped Democratic Councilman Jim Bradley. "They just don't get it.”

With three GOP council seats up for grabs, newly elected Democratic Party Chairman Weston Clark labeled the county races his highest priority this year, saying voters need an alternative to “Republican domination” that pervades Utah.

“The truth of the matter is that we have a fight ahead of us,” he said. “But we are the army of change.”

Clark - a social studies teacher at Viewmont High School in Bountiful - was named party boss Saturday after the abrupt ouster of Democratic chief Christian Burridge early this month.

Party leaders said Burridge didn't have the time, personally or professionally, to serve as an “effective” chairman during a potentially pivotal election cycle.

Still, Clark praised his predecessor Saturday and vowed to uphold his vision of winning “parts of the valley that we have never won before" - most notably in the south end of the state's most-populous county where Democrats staged this year's convention.

He declined to say which County Council seats appeared most vulnerable Ð maybe Mark Crockett's east-side post that crosses through Millcreek, or Michael Jensen's expansive west-side district at the foot of the Oquirrh Mountains, or Marv Hendrickson's soon-to-be-vacated slot in southeast Salt Lake County.

“They are all winnable,” he insisted.

Democrats locked arms Saturday behind an internally uncontested slate of County Council candidates and trumpeted incumbent County Mayor Peter Corroon - who will face Republican greenhorn Michael Renckert at the ballot box - as one of the state's most popular Democrats.

As the Dems' standard-bearers: Paul Pugmire in District 2 against Jensen, Jani Iwamoto in District 4 against Crockett and Roger Harding in District 6 against either Max Burdick or Robert Warnick.

“One seat is all that we need to have a majority on the County Council,” Democratic Councilman Joe Hatch declared, pounding out a list of party-line votes on issues from collective bargaining to domestic-partner health benefits that would have changed under Democratic control. “But we're not going to have just one. After this election, we're going to have a three-vote majority.”

jstettler@sltrib.com