Park City Politicians Amp Up Efforts to Sway Voters

Kathy Dopp, candiate for Summit County Clerk, is running out of time. The Desert Green candidate has less than a week to let voters know that she believes she also best represents Democrats - and not opponent Ken Jones, the official candidate for the party. Dopp commented unofficially that she believes Jones is sporting the title of Democrat solely for the election and really harbors a more Republican mindset. Dopp, a Mathematician by trade who has made voting fraud her prime issue this season, is particularly concerned after speaking to a number of Summit County residents who voted early, already casting their ballots for Jones by default as the Democratic rep. This information has sent Dopp on a personal mission across Park City, physically handing out fliers and sharing her beliefes to individual voters.

Dopp's assertive efforts at the tail-end of election season seem in tune with other Park City candidates in this election. Politicians across the board have stepped up their game to "peak" just as voters cast their ballots. In addition to traditional lawn signs and bumper stickers, newspaper ads have also multiplied in the final stretch, with some candidates running several ads in a single issue. Democrat Bob Richer, candidate for Summit County Commissioner, was the top buyer in Park City's bi-weekly paper, The Park Record, purchasing 24 separate ads in the Nov. 1 issue.

Citizens keen on particular issues also seem willing late in the game to give any potential voter a personal re-cap to secure their support. Steve Daugherty, who was part of a committe to study a controversial change in Summit County's government that would introduce a central planner and expand the current three-person council to five, spent thirty minutes discussing his views with a single potential voter, outside a formal setting.

As the hours until voters hit the booths wind down, the strides Park City's politicians are taking to ensure their presence become increasingly strong. If their hands-on approach to collecting support shows any indication of their work ethic, the residents of Summit County can count on a hard-working future government - if only in its final hours.