Elizabeth Romero didn't slap her name on the ballot because she is Latino or because she is a woman. No, she ran for Salt Lake County Council in 2002 for one reason: "I could do the job," she says. She fell short, keeping the nine-member council an all-male club (at the time) and, save for one Japanese American, an all-Anglo group. Romero entered the race to make democracy work in her L-shaped district covering all of West Jordan and chunks of six other cities from Midvale through southern Salt Lake County. At the time, Republican Cortlund Ashton was running unopposed. In the heavily GOP district, Romero carried 36 percent of the vote. So did her last name sway voters in the ballot booth and contribute to her loss? "It could have," she says. "There could have been people who didn't vote for me because they didn't like me." But Romero believes the main moniker that hurt her chances was the "Democrat" listed after her name. While she wasn't interested in merely being a voice for Latinos or women, Romero maintains that more minorities and women in office would help local governments reach better decisions. "The more diversity we have, the better our whole state will be," she says. But don't count on Romero making another run. She says family issues would prevent that - though she is willing to walk neighborhoods and pass out fliers for other candidates. "I'm not discouraged and I will help anybody that wants to run." - Jacob Santini