2004 Salt Lake County mayoral election

The 2004 Salt Lake County mayoral election was held to elect the Mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah on November 2, 2004, alongside the presidential, House of Representatives, Senate and gubernatorial elections. This marked the second election to the office since the post was created in 2000.

2004 Salt Lake County mayoral election

November 2, 2004
Turnout	76.27%
Nominee Peter Corroon Ellis Ivory Merrill Cook Party Democratic Republican Independent Popular vote 174,580 153,536 22,524 Percentage 49.50% 42.54% 6.39%
Mayor before election Alan Dayton Republican Elected mayor Peter Corroon Democratic

In 2000, Nancy Workman was elected as the first county mayor. However, in June 2004, she came under investigation for hiring two county-paid employees who had worked for her daughter at the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Valley, resulting in her being placed on paid administrative leave on July 9, replaced with Deputy Mayor Alan Dayton.

Democrat Peter Corroon won the election as one of two Democrats to win the county during the election cycle, alongside gubernatorial candidate Scott Matheson Jr., while the county backed Republicans George W. Bush for president and Bob Bennett for Senator.

Candidates

Democratic Party

• Peter Corroon, businessman

Republican Party

• Ellis Ivory, businessman

Dropped out

• Nancy Workman, former County Mayor (2001–2004)

Despite being placed on administrative leave, Workman still remained the Republican candidate and refused to withdraw. However, after revelations that she had paid her daughter's former boyfriend for county computer work that was never done, Salt Lake County GOP voted on October 5 to withdraw support for her, instead supporting Ivory, who until then was running as a write-in candidate. On October 12, Workman filed papers with County Clerk Sherrie Swensen to officially withdraw from the race, including a note from her physician, Philip Roberts, saying she was "disabled" and unable to continue. Swensen rejected the county GOP attempt to certify Ivory as their candidate, forcing the party to hold an emergency central committee meeting and succeeding a week before the election, despite lawsuits from Democratic Party.

Independent

• Merrill Cook, Utah's 2nd congressional district representative 1997–2001

Personal Choice

• F. Joseph Irish

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Peter Corroon	Ellis Ivory	Nancy Workman	Merrill Cook
Deseret News/KSL	October 7, 2004	306	±5.5%	34%	32%	10%	6%

Results

2004 Salt Lake County mayoral general election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Peter Corroon	174,580	49.50%	+1.94%
	Republican	Ellis Ivory	150,015	42.54%	−9.9%
	Write-ins	Ellis Ivory	3,521
	Independent	Merrill Cook	22,524	6.39%
	Personal Choice	F. Joseph Irish	4,020	1.14%
Total votes			366,706	100%	+17.5%