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Early Election Results: 'Out With The Old' In Some Mayoral Races

Fredex8 / iStock

It was a tough night for several incumbent mayors in the Salt Lake Valley.

Unofficial results showed mayors Tom Dolan of Sandy, Bill Applegarth of Riverton, Larry Johnson of Taylorsville and Kim Rolfe of West Jordan all lagging behind their opponents Tuesday night.

Dolan, who has served as mayor of Sandy for 24 years, trailed challenger Kurt Bradburn by 12 percent — more than 2,000 votes.

In Draper, incumbent Troy Walker was leading challenger Michele Weeks Tuesday night, 54 percent to 46 percent. It was a reversal of the Draper mayoral primary in August, when Weeks led Walker by 8 percentage points.

In Midvale, Sophia Hawes-Tingey had hoped to be the city’s first transgender mayor, but early returns showed her trailing opponent Robert Hale by 20 percent.

Provo Mayor
In Provo, Michelle Kaufusi led Sherrie Hall-Everett by more than 900 votes. If Kaufusi maintains her early lead, she will replace John Curtis, who was declared the winner in the special election for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District Tuesday night.

The winner of Tuesday’s election for Provo mayor will become the first female mayor in the history of Utah’s third-largest city.

Salt Lake City Council
Of the two open races for Salt Lake City Council, unofficial results showed attorney Chris Wharton leading affordable housing developer Phil Carroll. Wharton had 55 percent to Carroll’s 45 percent in the race for Salt Lake City’s 3rd District, which represents the Avenues neighborhood.

In the city’s 7th district race, public defender Amy Fowler lead technology strategist Abe Smith 63 percent to 37 percent Tuesday night.

In District 5, first-term incumbent Erin Mendenhall had a comfortable lead over community activist George Chapman. Mendenhall had 84 percent of her district’s vote to Chapman’s 16 percent.

District 1 councilman James Rogers ran unopposed.

Blanding Alcohol Sales
Early results showed Blanding residents voted nearly 2-to-1 againstallowing sale of beerand wine within city limits. 

School District Bonds
Early voters approved bonds for four school districts, while appearing to reject two others.

Canyons was seeking $283 million to rebuild some aging schools, including Brighton and Hillcrest High Schools. Unofficial results Tuesday night showed 56 percent of voters in the school district approving the bond.

In Granite School District, 55 percent of voters approved a similar bond — the district had asked for $238 million for retrofitting and rebuilding several schools, including Cyprus and Skyline High Schools.

Early returns showed bond proposals in Weber and Morgan school districts ahead by more than 10 points.

In Ogden district, voters may reject a $106 million-dollar bond proposal. Tuesday night’s results showed 51 percent voting against it. Voters in South Summit School District rejected a $58 million-dollar proposal to build a new high school and upgrade other facilities.

Nicole Nixon holds a Communication degree from the University of Utah. She has worked on and off in the KUER Newsroom since 2013, when she first joined KUER as an intern. Nicole is a Utah native. Besides public radio, she is also passionate about beautiful landscapes and breakfast burritos.
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