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SALT LAKE CITY — Some 800 ballots in Salt Lake County have yet to be counted from Tuesday's municipal primary elections, with more potentially arriving by mail Wednesday.
Those outstanding votes could alter who advances to November's general election as mayoral candidates in at least four cities sit within striking distance of a second-place finish.
"We have about 500 (provisional ballots) countywide and about 300 vote-by-mail ballots that were dropped off at polling locations (Tuesday)," said Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen. "We haven’t sorted them down into jurisdictions at this point. We’ll be doing that over the next day or two."
Swensen said the final election results will be announced at municipal canvass meetings on Aug. 27. Until then, she said, the clerk's office is legally prohibited from disclosing the results of provisional and mail-in voting.
"Depending on where these ballots apply, there are some cliffhangers out there," Swensen said.
Salt Lake County initial primary mayoral election results
| Race | Candidate | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Murray Mayor | Ted Eyre | 36% |
| David Wilde | 23% | |
| Jim Brass | 22% | |
| Draper Mayor | Troy Walker | 49% |
| Phillip Shell | 38% | |
| West Jordan | Ben Southworth | 28% |
| Kim Rolfe | 20% | |
| Midvale | JoAnn Seghini | 55% |
| David Fair | 25% | |
| South Jordan | Scott Osborne | 39% |
| Dave Alvord | 22% | |
| South Salt Lake | Cherie Wood | 47% |
| Derk Pehrson | 16% | |
| Shane Siwik | 16% | |
| Nick Gosdis | 16% |
One of the closest contests is the mayoral race for South Salt Lake, where the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers are separated by just eight votes.
"It is what it is, and there’s nothing we can do to change it, so all we can do is be patient, wait and enjoy the time off from the campaign for a little bit," said Shane Siwik, who finished third with two fewer votes than Derk Pehrson.
In West Valley City, Ron Bigelow and Karen Lang claimed the top two spots in the mayoral race. Third-place finisher Don Christensen fell short by 35 votes.
Christensen said he was disappointed with the preliminary results and hopes that as the provisional ballots are counted he can narrow the gap or even pull ahead.
"It depends on how many of those 800 ballots are from West Valley," he said. "All I need is 36 of them and I could be in second place."
Lang said it's frustrating waiting for the final results but she feels confident that her lead is secure.
"I know they have to take their time and count the provisional and the mail-in ballots correctly," she said. "We want it to be accurate."
In Murray, the second- and third-place candidates for mayor are currently separated by a margin of 44 votes. While it is not yet known what the final vote tally will be, Jim Brass, who finished third, posted on Facebook Wednesday that his campaign was effectively over.
Related:
Results given from mayoral primary elections across Utah
Municipal elections were held throughout the state Tuesday, with the top mayoral and city council candidates advancing to the Nov. 5 general election."We did our best, but fell short," the message said. "Thank you all again for all your support."
Brass, who was out of town on vacation Wednesday, could not be reached for comment.
David Wilde, currently in second place for Murray mayor, said he feels his lead is secure. Wilde said it is unlikely that a large enough portion of the county's outstanding votes are from Murray — and that those votes would be overwhelmingly in favor of his opponent — to swing the election in another direction.
"It could happen, but I think the chances are very slight," he said.
In District 7 race of the Salt Lake City Council, second-place finisher Kevin Paulson and third-place finisher Deb Henry are separated by 24 votes.
Paulson said it's anyone's guess what could happen as the remaining ballots are counted, but he added that he feels confident after coming from behind to end Wednesday in second place.
"We’re just going to press forward and hope for the best and keep working," he said.
Looking ahead to November, either Paulson or Henry will face Lisa Ramsey Adams, who was separated from the rest of the candidate pack by nearly 300 votes.
"It’s going to be a tough fight for sure," Paulson said of November's general election.
In Utah County, second- and third-place Provo mayoral candidates Jason Christensen and Howard Stone are separated by 27 votes, though their combined vote totals accounted for a little more than 13 percent of the vote, compared with incumbent Mayor John Curtis' 84 percent.
