SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Embattled West Valley Mayor Mike Winder still hasn't ruled out running for Salt Lake County Mayor in 2012.
This despite his confession that he wrote news articles under a false name.
Current Mayor Peter Corroon isn't running for reelection and Winder might have been the front-runner before his recent troubles.
But Winder may still run and there are some other new developments in this race as well.
Winder's name is now known all over the country and not in a good way.
The West Valley Mayor continues to feel the heat for using someone else's name to write positive articles about his city.
While Winder wouldn't do an on-camera interview with ABC 4, he did talk to us on the phone.
We asked him whether all this bad press would keep him out of next year's Salt Lake County Mayor's race.
Winder told us that he was,
"Still keeping his options about running for mayor."
But there are some other new developments in this race as well.
In an exclusive interview, Democrat Sam Granato told ABC 4 that he will not be running for Salt Lake County Mayor as has been rumored.
Instead, he is now endorsing Democratic County Mayoral candidate Ben McAdams.
Granato told us,
"I find Ben to be forthright. I think he's ambitious and he can get the job done."
But that doesn't mean you've heard the last of Sam Granato.
Granato ran a well received race against Senator Mike Lee last year.
So, we asked him if he was now thinking about running against Governor Gary Herbert.
Granato tells us,
“I am thinking about it."
He is expected to decide by the end of the year.
Follow Chris on Twitter: @cvan4
