Back then, observers could have argued it was fitting, that his candidacy would be dead on arrival. After all, he was a little-known Democrat running against a well-heeled incumbent Republican in a mostly Republican county.

"At that time, yes, it was like maybe he was tilting at windmills," says University of Utah political scientist Tim Chambless. "But, you know, now Peter Corroon has surfaced as probably the most likely candidate to win."

What changed?

Eight months after he declared he would run for mayor, Corroon was vaulted to the lead when incumbent Nancy Workman was smothered by scandal. Almost immediately, the mayor's race - once expected to be overshadowed by more high-profile campaigns - became the most interesting, and probably the most publicized, campaign in the state.

And there was Corroon, a typically quiet 40-year-old, who still gets nervous in front of crowds and occasionally stumbles for the right word. But his words stuck.

"He really gets it," says supporter Marci Mulligan, president of the Salt Lake-based Multi-Ethnic Development Corp. "He [understands] what it takes for the regular guy to make it."

Corroon - his name is pronounced ko-roon - has aspired to public office before, running an unsuccessful bid for Salt Lake City Council, losing in the 2001 primary. He jumped into the county mayor's race because he was upset by the incumbent's actions, such as putting stickers and signs on county facilities with her name on them.

His comments - like his slogan, "It's broken. Let's fix it" - have appealed to voters, some of whom see him as an alternative to the status quo.

"Are you going to put your name on everything the county owns?" Dennis Jolley, head of the McGillis School in Salt Lake City, asks Corroon at a recent candidate forum.

"No," responds the candidate. Instead, he says, he would install stickers that say, "The citizens welcome you to this facility."

"OK, I'll take a [yard] sign," says Jolley, an independent voter.

Corroon hails from a small town in Connecticut. He was raised in a Republican home, assured, he often tells voters, that at least one Republican loves him: his mom.

He has at least one famous cousin: former Vermont governor and one-time Democratic presidential candidate, Howard Dean. Stumping for Corroon in Salt Lake City this summer, Dean said the nation needs ordinary people with common sense - like his cousin - to be running government. "Politics is too important to be left to politicians."

Unlike the electrically charged Dean, though, Corroon has battled a perception that he is, well, boring.

He acknowledges that some people may think that, but it doesn't faze him. "Frankly, the county could probably use some 'boring' right now."

His wife, Amy, disputes that characterization. "For all the things he's done, I just don't see how anyone can classify him" that way, she says.

For certain, Corroon is always on the go. He wakes at 5 a.m. and reads the newspaper while exercising on a stationary bike. "I always have to be doing something," he says.

Amy retorts: "He always wants to join an organization or a cause. He works a lot, but he's there for us, too."

She has even established an evening curfew of 9:30 for her husband - to allow him time to tuck the couple's three kids, Sophie, Peter Jr. and James, into bed. On a recent drive back from the south valley, Corroon glances up at his billboard near Interstate 15 that shows his family. "I am the only candidate with his Christmas card on a billboard," he quips.

He is also the only mayoral candidate with a twin brother. But he and Chris Corroon are not identical twins, so don't expect to see Chris surreptitiously filling in at a campaign event.

"I tried to be his body double at one of the Fourth of July parades, but his wife wouldn't let me," jokes Chris, who is his brother's business partner.

Chris says he couldn't ask for a better associate. "You can call him at 6 a.m., and chances are he'll be in the office working," he says.

Hard worker? Yes. Well-known? Not yet.

Name recognition still is a problem. At a senior center visit in Draper, a woman asked him if she was supposed to write in his name on the ballot; she obviously thought he was Ellis Ivory. At the same event, Corroon forgot to don a campaign button with his name, so he informs the audience: "I'm not Jim Matheson. I'm confused with him all the time."

He also fights against being tagged as a liberal. Republicans often criticize Corroon as being on the far left, pointing out that he supports progressive ideas such as a living wage, and opposes the current route of the proposed Legacy Highway through south Davis County.

Utah GOP Chairman Joe Cannon once compared Corroon to Rocky Anderson, the Democratic mayor of Salt Lake City who is despised by many conservatives.

And unaffiliated mayoral candidate Merrill Cook once urged party members to "keep a very liberal Rocky Anderson Democrat from taking over the office of Salt Lake County mayor."

Corroon dismisses the liberal label.

"That's the tactic the other side has been using to say I'm something I'm not," Corroon said.

He says being slapped with a liberal tag is an attempt by some to tie him to issues - abortion, same-sex marriage - that have nothing to do with county government.

One issue, though, that has plenty to do with the county is development.

Corroon has criticized opponent Ellis Ivory, who is trying to replace Workman on the Nov. 2 ballot, as being Utah's largest developer. Corroon, however, also is a developer.

"Peter Corroon has been running on his record of being a successful businessman," says Chris Gamvroulas, president of Ivory Development, an Ivory family company. "But his business is real-estate development. And that's fine. Real-estate development is a very honorable profession.

"It's hypocritical, though, to try to use it in a negative connotation for one person, and then try and use it in a positive way for yourself."

His projects, Corroon says, are "small, not sprawl." To date they include revitalizing run-down buildings to create affordable housing. His latest development is a mixed-use, 25-unit apartment building at 900 South and 200 West in Salt Lake City, all of which is classified as affordable housing.

Amy Corroon says her husband is dedicated to his job, but also is devoted to their family.

In a three-year period, Amy gave birth to the couple's three kids while at the same time obtaining a master's degree in public administration. Peter Corroon took care of the kids on evenings and weekends and cleaned the house, Amy says.

Some supporters are so excited for Corroon to win, they are predicting the future.

"Oh, mayor, how are you?" veteran political science professor J.D. Williams said when he ran into Corroon at the Liberty Senior Center in Salt Lake City.

Hopefully he will get that title, Corroon said, but not yet.

tburr@sltrib.com

Salt Lake County Mayor

Peter Corroon, 40, Democrat

* Education: Bachelor's degree in civil engineering, Carnegie-Mellon University; law degree, Golden Gate University; master's degree in real estate and development, New York University. Also studied at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

* Work experience: Principal of Red Gate Properties and president of Green Street Partners. Former adjunct professor at both Salt Lake Community College and Westminster College. Serving as a 3rd District small-claims judge. Member of state and federal bars of Utah, California and Colorado.

* Personal: Married to Amy Corroon. Three children: Sophie, 3; Peter Jr., 2; and James, 1.

* Political experience: Past president of the Salt Lake Vest Pocket Business Coalition and the chairman of the Community Business Coalition, Utah's Office of Child Care Advisory Committee and the Greater Avenues Community Council.

* Hero: "Those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom and those who devote their lives to public service."

* Favorite book: Leadership by Rudolph Giuliani

* Fun facts: Peter and his twin brother, Chris, are their family's 11th generation of twins.