(KCPW News) Following months of speculation, West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder confirmed today that he is running for Salt Lake County Mayor. He says there are several reasons he decided to get into the race.
“If you look at Salt Lake County right now, it’s had 8 years of Democrat leadership, and it’s really needed a fiscal conservative at the helm who wants to actually see the size of county government reduced; who wants to actually see more power pushed down to the municipalities; that wants to help those in the unincorporated areas in a methodical way, and using self-determination, eventually get into cities,” says Winder.
In a video posted several days ago to Winder’s YouTube channel, he receives endorsements from Senator Aaron Osmond, Representative Derek Brown, Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall and West Jordan Mayor Melissa Johnson.
Winder was widely criticized last year for using a pen-name to write stories about West Valley City for the Deseret News, an admission that eventually forced him to step down from his day job with The Summit Group, a local public relations firm. He expects his opponents in the race to use the controversy against him.
“That will be fun fodder for my enemies I’m sure. Other people will forgive me for using a pen name, and will applaud me for at least trying to do something to improve the image of my city and fill in coverage that was being cut back,” says Winder. “It was a dumb thing to do; I’ve apologized profusely on it. I’m looking to move on and we’ll see if the voters are too.”
Winder was elected West Valley City Mayor in 2009. He told KCPW he will make a formal announcement of his county mayor candidacy next week. Other Republicans in the race include County Councilman Richard Snelgrove, County Recorder Gary Ott and former County Councilman Mark Crockett. Democrats in the race include state senators Ross Romero and Ben McAdams.
Winder’s Youtube Announcment:
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