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SALT LAKE CITY — The primary is one month away, and the Republican candidates for Salt Lake County mayor are going after each other on technicalities.
Mike Winder and Mark Crockett have made complaints and counter-complaints about financial disclosures, each coming from one campaign about the other one. It's the kind of race where it's hard to get a big amount of attention.
On KSL newsradio's Doug Wright show, Crockett and Winder argued back and forth about improper financial disclosure.
"This is just a desperate campaign that's falling behind on the Crockett side, starting to throw out what they can to try to trip us up, and it's not gonna work," Winder said. "We're gonna keep going forward with our positive optimistic message.
But Crockett stuck by his complaint that his opponent hadn't adhered to campaign rules.
"I think we all want races to be fair," Crockett said. "If we're gonna have rules and if we are going to make a decision we want to make sure it is done on a fair basis."
In formal complaints to the county clerk's office filed last week, Crockett supporters claimed Winder improperly raised, spent and shifted money from his city mayor to his county mayor campaign accounts.
Then Monday, Winder supporters filed a complaint claiming Crockett's disclosure forms were too vague.
Both candidates admit that the complaints are a distraction from real issues Salt Lake County is facing right now. The county has serious budget constraints, and the public is disconnected from county programs.
They also say that they can cut taxes. It's a battle over experience and public perception.
"Voters want someone who's been a mayor, not just a consultant, who can take Salt Lake County and lead it to a great place," Winder said. "We've done that in West Valley City and we can do that for Salt Lake County."
"If you look at my experience, what I do for my career is helping corporations and it's not a learn-on-the-job kind of thing," Crockett said. "I've saved companies and governments billions of dollars a year, and I know we can do that with the county."
