The pressure may be getting to Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman.
The embattled county mayor — on forced leave from her post and under two felony charges — was a guest on the "Radio West" program Wednesday on KUER but lasted only a few minutes.
She took offense at a line of questioning by host Doug Fabrizio, stood up and walked out of the studio.
Her exit was preceded by questions regarding the panel that found there was probable cause to charge her with a felony misuse of public funds. Workman said, "So it was not as independent as it appeared."
Fabrizio responded: "Kay Bryson, a Republican, then was beholden to a Democrat."
Workman: "Signed an oath to Salt Lake County."
Fabrizio: "Doesn't seem plausible, mayor, does it? He may have signed an oath, but you really don't respect Kay Bryson's independence or integrity? Forget the technicality for a moment . . . "
Workman: "Oh my goodness. Hey, if you're gonna talk like that . . . "
Fabrizio: "Talk like what?"
Workman: "See you later, Doug. Thank you very much."
"The mayor has just walked out of the studio," Fabrizio said. He hesitated for a moment, then called for a break.
Although two callers chided Fabrizio for "needling" Workman, most of the subsequent callers to the program lambasted the mayor for her early exit.
"I think her political strategy at this point should be to stay home, close the door and not talk to anyone," one caller said.
"She's been called a fighter, but when someone runs from a fight, that's not a fighter," said another.
Workman campaign adviser Dave Owen later called into the show to do some damage control.
"Obviously, she's under some degree of strain right now, (but) I think she's been bearing up very well under an incredible load," he said.
In a Wednesday meeting with the Deseret Morning News editorial board shortly after the truncated radio interview, Workman said Fabrizio had come into it with an agenda.
"He kept twisting the questions around," she said. "I didn't feel like he really wanted to find out what was going on."
Fabrizio himself said he might have taken a different tone, though he didn't apologize for the questions he asked.
"It's not my thing to be a Mike Wallace kind of interviewer," he said. "I don't feel that's very productive . . . I have an open invitation to the mayor to come back, and I'll try to get it right, but I'm not going to change the substance of the questions."
Republican political consultant LaVarr Webb said the incident hurts Workman.
"I can understand where she's coming from, and sympathize with her, but this is politics, after all, and elected officials have to face tough questions," he said. "Lots of political figures feel they are unfairly treated by reporters and have wanted to walk out, but you just don't do that."
Democrat Frank Piganelli said, "The political process is a meat grinder."
Webb said Workman has faced tougher questions in the past and done fine with them. "She's obviously not herself."
She might not be, but Workman has no plans to withdraw from the campaign. The mayor told the editorial board she plans to continue and expects to win re-election. Her attorney, Greg Skordas, said he is still hopeful that she can get a trial date before Nov. 2, hinting that he may have a yet-to-be-revealed strategy to get one.
"There's a lot happening in this case, a lot happening in the next 10 days and the next two weeks," he said.
Skordas said allegations by special deputy district attorney Mike Martinez that Workman is trying to get special treatment by putting herself above others who are trying to get a trial date are "completely untrue."
"Cases are accommodated all the time," he said, citing missionaries or soldiers who are about to leave, as well as cases arising during the Olympics. "We've just been thwarted for no good reason."
Current law requires that Workman have a physician certify her as mentally or physically incapable to withdraw from the race, which Workman is not interested in doing.
"I would have looked at it back when it first started," she said, "but right now I'm staying the course."
E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com