to Salt Lake County

Mayor

Peter Corroon, Democrat

County Council

At-large: Jim Bradley, Democrat

At-large: Randy Horiuchi, Democrat

At-large: Jenny Wilson, Democrat

District 1: Joe Hatch, Democrat

District 2: Michael Jensen, Republican

District 3: David Wilde, Republican

District 4: Mark Crockett, Republican

District 5: Cortlund Ashton, Republican

District 6: Marv Hendrickson, Republican

While the nation and most of Utah tilt further to the right, Salt Lake County is solidifying as a bastion for the left.

Consider: County Democrats nabbed the mayor's post, arguably one of the highest profile offices in the state, snatched another County Council at-large seat and even picked up a Utah Senate and House slot this week.

If wannabe blue-staters are crying in their beer over John Kerry - and smarting over Scott Matheson Jr.'s lopsided defeat - they can toast Salt Lake County, which belied Utah's Republican trend.

"It's one of our better years," says Democratic Chairwoman Nichole Adams, stressing the party's mantra that one-party government is not healthy resonated with voters. "There's a good Democratic base here."

In fact, Utah's two most visible and powerful mayors - county Mayor-elect Peter Corroon and Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson - are Democrats.

Even Ellis Ivory, the retired home builder who replaced Nancy Workman on the GOP ticket for county mayor, pointed to the minority party's strong performance in the county.

"The Democrats were very good at lambasting the Republicans this year," says Ivory, who lost to Corroon despite spending close to a half-million dollars on the race.

Democrats also picked up a seat on the County Council, which gained its first woman, with Jenny Wilson's defeat of GOP incumbent Steve Harmsen. Wilson joins Democrats Jim Bradley and Randy Horiuchi as countywide council members and narrows the overall Republican margin to one.

With Wilson, Democrats for the first time can block two-thirds Republican majority votes. Corroon may also exercise his veto power and the Democrats can block a veto override.

Though new to public office, Wilson can call on family for counsel. "It will be fun to have the benefit of his advice," she says about her father, former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson.

The council's power balance nearly shifted completely Tuesday but Democrat Dina Blaes fell about 3,000 votes shy of winning the open seat in District 4. Mark Crockett, a Republican business consultant, won the spot vacated by Russell Skousen with 52 percent of the vote.

In addition, Democrats sailed to victory in Salt Lake County within the state Legislature.

Former state Rep. Fred Fife knocked off Republican incumbent James Evans in the highly Democratic Senate District 1. Evans - the first Republican to hold the seat in nearly 70 years - essentially quit his job and campaigned full time, but it wasn't enough to stop the Democrats from reclaiming a slot they see as rightfully theirs.

In Murray, which swings either way, Democrat Tim Cosgrove, a children's advocate for Primary Children's Medical Center, soundly defeated incumbent Rep. Chad Bennion. Two years ago, Bennion edged Cosgrove by a mere 89 votes.

Other Democrats managed to squeak by their Republican challengers, including Roz McGee and Ty McCartney in Salt Lake City and House Minority Leader Brent Goodfellow of West Valley City.

Quin Monson, assistant director for Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, blames Republican foibles for the Democrats' success.

He also credits near-record turnout in Utah's most populous county for helping re-elect Congressman Jim Matheson and giving hope to his brother - Scott Matheson Jr. carried the county - in the race for governor.

"Looking at the numbers of those two races," he says, "is evidence that Salt Lake County is competitive for Democrats."

djensen@sltrib.com

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Tribune reporters Thomas Burr and Nicole Warburton contributed to this story.