SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker can come back from a 16-point primary election loss, but the odds are against him as former State Representative Jackie Biskupski takes on the mantle of front-runner.
That's the opinion of former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson.
"She needs to now act like she's the mayor," Wilson said. "She needs to go positive. He almost needs to go negative."
Wilson said a combination of what he called missteps led to Becker's distant second-place finish in the primary race. Among the missteps mentioned are the ousting of Police Chief Chris Burbank, and his communications director, Art Raymond, getting caught out using a pseudonym to post messages about city issues and other candidates on a newspaper response board.
"He's had some things occur around him that have caused people to reflect that maybe he's not in tight control of the office," Wilson said.
Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson thinks Becker is likely on the way out.
"I'm not surprised at all that somebody like Jackie Biskupski did very well in the primary," said Anderson, who thinks Becker has not shown a passion for the job.
"I think we're going to end up with a new mayor," Anderson said.
Wilson also thinks the odds strongly favor Biskupski. His advice for the current Mayor, a mea culpa.
Wilson said: "At some point you stand up and say, 'You know there were some things that I'm really not very happy about ... I'm human but I'm a leader, I love this job and I want your support.'"
