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Ogden • The chicken was, by all accounts, better than most, but otherwise it was a pretty standard campaign stop.

Driving back to Salt Lake, where Peter Corroon planned an hour or so of prep time for his final gubernatorial debate with Gov. Gary Herbert, a young, helmetless rider on a motorcycle raced past, doing at least 90 mph.

"That guy's going to be a statistic," the mayor said as the guy on the bike hit the throttle and zipped between a few more cars and disappeared.

Of course, in a universe ruled by strict probability, Corroon wouldn't be here.

Statistically, this Democrat from Connecticut shouldn't have ended up in Utah.

Statistically, the sacrificial lamb in his 2004 bid for county mayor shouldn't be in office.

And, statistically, he shouldn't have a shot at being the first Democrat elected governor in Utah in three decades.

Asked if he had owned a motorcycle, Corroon simply replies, "Yep. Snapped femur," as if it was a brand of bike concocted by the planet's worst marketing team.

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Turning point • Corroon, then 28, was riding his Yamaha dirt bike when he was hit head-on by a Ford LTD station wagon, one of those collisions that never end well for the motorcycle — statistically speaking.

He went over the top of the car — "probably the right decision," he says — and spent time in the hospital. His days as a distance runner (he had competed in a few marathons) were over, but he calls it "an awakening."

"I was a shy kid growing up. I never had any intention of getting into this. I just kept my mouth shut and worked hard," said Corroon. But a brush with his own mortality changed him, cracked him out of his shell. "I realized life is too short. It doesn't matter what people think of you."

Politics, Corroon concedes, still do not come naturally. He is a policy wonk, but hates partisanship. And he's not a naturally charismatic, back-slapping candidate. On the stump he can seem robotic, his talking points, although well-worn, are still choppy.

But he is more polished and comfortable than when he ran for city council in 2001 and finished fourth in a field of five candidates, or when he mounted an improbable challenge to then-Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman in 2004.

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Growing up • Corroon grew up in an affluent, Republican family in Greenwich, Conn., playing hockey on the nearby pond with his friends and siblings. His father was a CEO on Wall Street and the kids attended private schools.

"We never took that for granted and our parents, boy, they never let us forget that," said Peter's twin brother, Chris Corroon. "We were afforded those privileges, but it was, 'Get down on your hands and knees every night and be thankful you have it, because a lot of kids don't.' "

Their mother, especially, pushed her children to volunteer at homes for disabled people and homeless mothers. Family vacations typically included a day working at the local homeless shelter.

After finishing law school in California, Peter Corroon followed his brother to Utah. At the time, he was still a Republican.

"Our Utah Legislature is what transformed me into a Democrat," Peter Corroon said. "I'm a moderate and in most other states I could very easily be a moderate Republican."

But on environmental issues, economic development and education, Corroon says, the conservative Legislature has swung too far to the right.

He hadn't considered running for office, but he was frustrated with the lack of child care in the state, so he went to Roz McGee, who ran the group Voices for Utah Children and was a former state legislator, who coaxed him into serving on a state child care advisory board.

Corroon also began to serve on Salt Lake City's Avenues Community Council, eventually as chairman, before his failed bid for city council.

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Mayor • In early 2004, Corroon was at an event when a friend approached him and said they had heard he was running for Salt Lake County mayor.

"I said I didn't know that, and then someone else came up and said it to me," he said. "Finally, I went to the county party chair and said I hear I'm running for county mayor … and she said, 'You know, we were going to talk to you about that.' "

He entered the race as an underdog, but scandal toppled the sitting mayor and his campaign to clean up county government carried him into office.

During his tenure, he fought taxpayer subsidies for the REAL Salt Lake soccer stadium, and has installed the nation's largest roof-top solar power project.

He boasts of budget cuts — although those are partly because the county police budget was taken off the balance sheets — and says he didn't raise property taxes without voter approval. However, he did support a tax to fund the police force.

After easily winning re-election in 2008, a shot at statewide office seemed inevitable. But the timetable was bumped up in May of 2009, when President Barack Obama picked then-Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to be the U.S. Ambassador to China.

Corroon said he was up at 3 a.m. that night, worrying about what Huntsman's departure would mean for the state.

"I thought Governor Huntsman was creating a competitive, dynamic state, a welcoming state, and I was afraid we were going to turn around 180 degrees and go in the wrong direction," Corroon said, "and that has proved itself out."

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Campaign • After a brief "listening tour," Corroon took the plunge.

All this is what brought Corroon and running mate Sheryl Allen to meet with the Ogden Exchange Club this week, another stop on his Corroon Country tour, where he spoke to a audience of about 60, mostly senior men, preaching better funding for education and smarter economic development.

The questions from the group ranged from his views on Arizona's tough law targeting illegal immigration (he's against it) to privatizing the state's liquor stores (he's for it).

Statistically, Corroon has trailed throughout the campaign, even in his own polling. But if he can meet with enough people, he says, he can win.

"His campaign will work to the last minute. He'll grind it out and, worst case scenario, he's obviously got two years left in Salt Lake County," says Chris Corroon. "He'll be known as a force to contend with and he's got a lot of respect from Democrats and Republicans alike." —

Peter Corroon

Age • 46

Family • Wife, Amy; children, Sophie, 9; Peter Jr., 8; and James, 7.

Education • Bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Carnegie Mellon University; master's degree in real estate finance and investment from New York University; law degree from Golden Gate University.

Political experience • Served as chairman of the Salt Lake Avenues Community Council; Ran for Salt Lake City Council in 2001, finishing fourth of five candidates; Won the office of Salt Lake County mayor in 2004, re-elected in 2008.

Fun fact • He is a cousin of one-time Vermont governor and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.