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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Mayor Rocky Anderson handily won the primary in his first re-election contest, leading a field of challengers with 45 percent of the vote Tuesday. He'll face lawyer and lobbyist Frank Pignanelli in the November general election.
For much of the night Pignanelli and businessman Molonai Hola were locked in the race for second place. But Pignanelli pulled ahead as the last precincts reported their results, taking 30 percent of the vote to Hola's 24 percent.
In Ogden, Mayor Matthew R. Godfrey had twice as many votes as the runner-up in a field of nine candidates. Godfrey will face city councilman Jesse M. Garcia in the November election.
Anderson, taking note of his early and sustained lead, said he wasn't worried about winning on Nov. 4.
Anderson praised Hola, calling him an "honest guy" and said he had carried on his campaign with integrity.
However, he said Pignanelli "has had his moments" and there have been "some things we don't feel so good about in terms of how they've gone about it."
Pignanelli said in response, "There's been some things he's done as mayor that I don't approve of."
The race also included perennial but overlooked candidates Joseph Irish and Lawrence Rey Topham, who each drew only a fraction of 1 percent of the vote.
Anderson already has spent $400,000 seeking a second, four-year term in a race that turned on his sometimes confrontational and demanding style, which has seen a high staff turnover at City Hall and testy relations with other Utah cities.
In a debate Sunday, Pignanelli spoke of people and agencies being "frustrated," likened the city's image to a "plague" and said divisiveness over the Main Street plaza should have been treated as an opportunity to heal rifts between Mormon residents and those who aren't part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Anderson defends his efforts to resolve the plaza dispute, saying it required true leadership. He also pointed to his opposition to the Legacy Highway in favor of a mass-transit solution to commuter woes as "absolutely the right thing to do."
Anderson says he plans to continue working on mass transit in the city and region. His other pet issues are open space acquisition and housing opportunities for all income levels.
Pignanelli wants more business partnerships with the city, more cooperation with school districts and public safety departments and better housing options.
Topham, 67, was arrested in August on an outstanding warrant from 1998 and was being held in the Salt Lake County Jail in lieu of bail. Topham allegedly entered the Capitol near midnight on Jan. 5, 1998, told guards that he was the secretary of state and that he was there to "seize the Capitol." The guards attempted to arrest him for criminal trespass, but Topham allegedly resisted, was subdued with pepper spray and was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
