Whether Sen. Orrin Hatch runs for an eighth term next year or retires at age 84 and is replaced on the Republican ticket by Mitt Romney, presumptive Democratic opponent Jenny Wilson’s candidacy probably is toast.
Why? Well, it’s not just because McAdams and Wilson are Democrats, although that might be enough to doom them in Utah. No, there actually is something worse on their resumes: They are elected Salt Lake County officials — McAdams is mayor; Wilson is a County Council member.
Forty years of history regarding the Salt Lake County Commission and its successor form of government, the County Council, suggest that county elective office is where aspiring political careers go to die.