In the early stages of the race for the Salt Lake County Council, Democrat Jenny Wilson is making a strong run against Republican Council Chairman Steve Harmsen.
In a Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates May 10-13, 34 percent of respondents said they would vote for Harmsen, while 30 percent said they would vote for Wilson. An almost equal number of voters (31 percent) said they were still undecided.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percent, meaning that, statistically, the race could be a dead heat.
The poll results "don't surprise me because I'm sure it (reflects) Republicans and Democrats in Salt Lake County, so most people are on the fence," Harmsen said. "Any kind of polling between now and October is pretty much conjecture."
Of poll respondents, 39 percent labeled themselves Republican, 25 percent Democrat and 35 percent independent or other.
Wilson has been very active in the race early on, calling news conferences and issuing challenges to Harmsen for a series of numerous debates, which he has declined. Like Harmsen, she said the poll results could and probably would change over the coming months.
"It's early," she said.
Harmsen defeated former Salt Lake County Commissioner Brent Overson in the GOP county convention last month and will not face a primary.
Wilson, daughter of former Salt Lake County mayor Ted Wilson, has been active in politics but has never sought elective office before. She has called for Harmsen to show more leadership and oversight over other county offices during the county's current vehicle-use scandal, and despite Harmsen's unwillingness to meet her in all of the debates she wants, she is going ahead with setting them up.
"I'd love it if he joins me, and if not, I'll get a chance to say what I have to say," she said.
E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com