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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County finalized its primary election results on Tuesday evening, setting the stage for a shake-up in the Legislature's minority party as senators Derek Kitchen and Gene Davis were ousted by competitors.
Kitchen, D-Salt Lake City, lost the candidacy to Jen Plumb, a pediatric physician, by less than one percentage point.
"After two weeks of standing by and awaiting the results of the primary election, today the county clerk finalized the count. I lost this election by 61 votes," Kitchen said on Twitter, calling the race a "nail biter."
Plumb received 4,383 votes, and Kitchen received 4,322 votes.
Kitchen is the only openly gay lawmaker, and one of the youngest currently serving in Utah's legislature. He joined the Senate in 2018.
Although he said he's "obviously disappointed" with the results, he is proud of his campaign.
"We engaged new voters, recruited new volunteers, and trained new organizers. We knocked on 17,465 doors. Made 11,300 phone calls, sent 58,880 texts," Kitchen said, adding that his campaign workers clocked nearly 500 individual volunteer shifts.
"While I am sad that I won't be able to continue to fight for our community in the Senate, I am still committed to the work of electing progressive candidates in Utah. We need politicians that will fight for working families, social and climate justice and housing," Kitchen tweeted.
Plumb expressed gratitude to voters for choosing her to represent the Democratic Party during the general election in November.
"Words cannot begin to describe the amount of joy I'm feeling tonight. I'm grateful to the residents of Senate District 9 for placing their trust in me. I promise to deliver results for them, their families, our neighborhoods, and our state. Thank you, residents of Senate District 9," she said in a statement Tuesday.
Davis, D-Salt Lake City, who has served as a leader in the minority party, lost to his challenger Nate Blouin, a renewable energy advocate, by a wide margin. Blouin received 4,469 votes and 1,420 votes were tallied for Davis.
Davis has served in the Senate since 1999.
"I'm looking forward to working with @jennifer_plumb and @steph_pitcher and I'm absolutely certain @derekkitchen will continue to be an incredible community advocate," Blouin tweeted.
Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Among other notable races in Salt Lake County, challenger Sheldon Stewart beat incumbent Councilman Steve Debry, with 12,838 votes tallied for Stewart and 9,873 for DeBry.
Meanwhile, beleaguered Utah County Attorney David Leavitt lost by a wide margin to challenger Jeff Gray. Leavitt conceded after early results were released.
Here are the final results for legislative and State School Board primary elections across Utah:
State senators
DISTRICT 5
Weber, Morgan counties
- Ann Millner (R-inc.): 6,588, 57.45%
- Doug Durbano (R): 4,880, 42.55%
DISTRICT 6
Davis County
- Jerry Stevenson (R-inc.): 7,542, 61.29%
- Betty Young (R): 4,764, 38.71%
DISTRICT 9
Salt Lake County
- Derek Kitchen (D-inc.): 4,322, 49.65%
- Jen Plumb (D): 4,383, 50.35%
DISTRICT 13
Salt Lake County
- Gene Davis (D-inc): 1,420, 24.11%
- Nate Blouin (D): 4,469, 75.89%
DISTRICT 14
Salt Lake County
- Stephanie Pitcher (D-inc.): 5,786, 79.99%
- Deondra Brown (D): 1,447, 20.01%
DISTRICT 23
Utah County
- Keith Grover (R-inc.): 8,833, 69.53%
- Brandon Beckham (R): 3,870, 30.47%
DISTRICT 28
Washington, Iron, Beaver, Millard and Juab counties
- Evan Vickers (R-inc.): 13,507, 70.24%
- Patrick Larson (R): 5,724, 29.76%
State representatives
DISTRICT 2
Cache County
- Mike Petersen (R-inc.): 3,291, 54.04%
- Val Potter (R): 2,799, 45.96%
DISTRICT 4
Summit, Morgan and Rich Counties
- Kera Birkeland (R-inc.): 4,379, 60.83%
- Raelene Blocker (R): 2,820, 39.17%
DISTRICT 8
Morgan and Weber counties
- Jason Kyle (R): 3,121, 61.47%
- Kimberly Cozzens (R): 1,956, 38.53%
DISTRICT 10
Weber County
- Jill Kofford (R): 2,143, 56.98%
- Lorraine Brown (R): 1,618, 43.02%
DISTRICT 11
Weber and Davis counties
- Kelly Miles (R-inc.): 1,814, 38.13%
- Katy Hall (R): 2,943, 61.87%
DISTRICT 18
Davis County
- Alena Ericksen (R): 3,063, 39.78%
- Paul Cutler (R): 4,636, 60.22%
DISTRICT 19
Davis County
- Ray Ward (R-inc.): 5,054, 59.44%
- Lyle Mason (R): 3,448, 40.56%
DISTRICT 20
Davis County
- Melissa Garff Ballard (R-inc.): 3,733, 65.13%
- Ronald Mortensen (R): 1,999, 34.87%
DISTRICT 29
Tooele, Millard and Juab counties
- Bridger Bolinder (R): 4,006, 60.43%
- Mark Huntsman (R): 2,623, 39.57%
DISTRICT 41
Salt Lake County
- Steve Aste (R): 2,613, 57.36%
- Wayne Gary Sandberg (R): 3,515, 57.36%
DISTRICT 45
Salt Lake County
- Susan Pulsipher (R-inc.): 3,818, 63.31%
- Rich Cunningham (R): 2,213, 36.69%
DISTRICT 46
Salt Lake County
- Jeff Stenquist (R-inc.): 3,203, 52.40%
- Carolyn Phippen (R): 2,910, 47.60%
DISTRICT 67
Duchesne, Carbon and Emery counties
- Christin Watkins (R-inc.): 3,509, 53.51%
- Tom Hansen (R): 3,049, 46.49%
DISTRICT 72
Washington County
- Joseph Elison (R): 4,131, 50.04%
- Willie Billings (R): 4,124, 49.96%
DISTRICT 73
Washington County
- Nina Barnes (R): 2,480, 36.74%
- Colin Jack (R): 4,270, 63.26%
DISTRICT 74
Washington County
- Kristy Pike (R): 3,439, 36.64%
- R. Neil Walter (R): 5,948, 63.36%
State School Board
DISTRICT 4
Davis, Salt Lake counties
- Melanie Mortensen (R): 15,466, 48.31%
- LeAnn Wood (R): 16,546, 51.69%
DISTRICT 11
Salt Lake, Utah counties
- Cindy Davis (R-inc.): 15,254, 52.07%
- Kim Del Grosso (R): 14,043, 47.93%
Utah County attorney
- David Leavitt (R-inc): 19,580, 25.87%
- Jeff Gray (R): 56,113, 74.13%
Salt Lake County Council
- Steve DeBry (R-inc.): 9,873, 43.47%
- Sheldon Stewart (R): 12,838, 56.53%
