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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Republican state Sen. Evan Vickers fended off a primary challenge Tuesday from former lawmaker Casey Andersen, a comeback after Vickers narrowly avoided being booted out of the southern Utah race during a nominating convention earlier this year.
Vickers secured 67 percent of the vote over Anderson, an edge of about 2,600 votes.
"It's gratifying to know that the people, when they have a chance to vote, disagreed with the state delegates," Vickers said.
The race was one of the most watched among seven contested legislative races Tuesday.
In Utah County, former lawmaker Brad Daw also staged a comeback, defeating incumbent state Rep. Dana Layton with about 55 percent of the vote. Daw lost the Orem-area seat to Layton in a 2012 Republican primary.
He attributed his 251-vote win to walking the district and promising voters to go bat for them.
"They can count on me to stand up even when standing up may be challenging," Daw said. "That's the message I portrayed."
Voter turnout was light Tuesday with so few races up for grabs. Each party's candidates for the state's four congressional seats, attorney general and dozens of state legislative races already were decided at party conventions in late April.
Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swenson said voting was slow in her county, where they had about 6 percent turnout in early voting. "We might be fortunate enough to reach double digits."
In Salt Lake County, voter turnout has failed to crack 10 percent half a dozen times in the last 20 years.
Statewide, voter turnout has averaged about 15 percent in primary elections over the past 20 years. Statewide voter turnout numbers weren't available late Tuesday night.
Here's a look at how some of the races in Tuesday's primary turned out:
STATE SENATE
About half of the state Senate is up for re-election this year, but only two primary races were up for election Tuesday.
In southern Utah's 28th Senate District, voters saw a 2012 rematch. Incumbent Vickers defeated Anderson, a rehabilitation counselor, who was appointed to hold the seat in 2011 after the death of Dennis Stowell.
In 2012, Anderson lost to Vickers, a pharmacist and business owner. At the state GOP convention in May, Anderson fell one vote short of clinching the nomination and avoiding the primary.
Vickers' win affords him re-election because no Democrats or third-party candidates are running. "If I lose that race, it could be the biggest upset ever," he joked.
Vickers said he thinks his longtime connections to the district, as a local business owner and having served on various local boards and councils, helped secure his win Tuesday.
In the 2nd District in Salt Lake City, Jacquie Nielsen defeated fellow Republican George Chapman. Nielsen won about 60 percent of the vote and will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Jim Dabakis in November.
STATE HOUSE
Party nominations for five state House seats were decided Tuesday, with four of the races involving Republican battles.
In House District 60, Layton of Orem lost to Daw, her 2012 primary opponent. Daw, an engineer and former four-term legislator, lost his House seat in 2012 to Layton, who runs an event-production company.
Daw said the victory shows a more accurate portrayal of what voters think about him and his opponent compared to the matchup two years ago, when a political action committee backed by anonymous donors sent mailers attacking Daw to voters in the district. A legislative investigation into Utah's former attorney general concluded that payday lenders appeared to be funding the attacks on Daw, who had proposed legislation restricting the industry.
"This was a more fair contest," he said of the 2014 race.
Layton said leading up the primary that the attacks on Daw may have helped her in 2012, "but I think it hurt me every bit as much, if not more, because it's still an issue two years later where I'm having to answer for something that I didn't do."
Daw will face Democrat Archie Williams in November.
In the 7th District GOP race, Rep. Justin Fawson of North Ogden won 57 percent of the vote over Dan Deuel of Ogden. Fawson will face Democrat Camille Neider in November.
In the 19th District in Bountiful, Republican Raymond Ward won 53 percent of the vote over Chet Loftis. Ward faces Democrat Daniel Donahoe in November.
In District 72 in Cedar City, incumbent Republican Rep. John Westwood fended off challenger Blake Cozzens, winning 72 percent of the vote. Westwood will face Libertarian Barry Shot in November.
The only legislative primary for Democrats on Tuesday was District 38 in Kearns, where Chrystal Butterfield defeated Elias McGraw by securing about 67 percent of the vote. She will try to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Eric Hutchings in November.
COUNTY RACES
Incumbent Jeff Buhman held off a challenge in the Republican race for Utah County attorney, defeating Ben Stanley with 53 percent of the vote, state election results show.
There are no other candidates in the race, meaning Buhman will face no challenger in November's general election. Buhman has served as the county's top prosecutor since he was elected in 2006. Stanley is a Pleasant Grove city councilman and works as an attorney at a firm that caters to technology companies.
In southwestern Utah's Washington County, incumbent Brock Belnap beat challenger Nathan Caplin in the race for county attorney. Belnap defeated Caplin with 55 percent of the vote.
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