SALT LAKE CITY — Two-term Salt Lake City Councilman Charlie Luke has conceded to challenger Dan Dugan.

Luke, who trailed Dugan by 167 votes according to results released Friday, posted about his concession on social media Monday.

“This afternoon I called Dan Dugan to congratulate him on his election to represent District 6 on the Salt Lake City Council,” Luke posted on Twitter and Facebook. “Serving District 6 for eight years has been an honor.”

Luke said he was thankful for the eight years he served in the seat representing the Bonneville Hills, Sunnyside East, East Bench, Yalecrest and Wasatch Hollow neighborhoods. He also thanked his family, City Council staff and the Utah Association of Community Services, where he works as a lobbyist.

“Thank you, District 6, for the allowing me to represent you for two terms,” Luke said.

Dugan, a retired Navy pilot, called the call a “very positive conversation,” noting that Luke thanked him for his military service for Veterans Day.

Now, Dugan said, he’s gearing up to take office in January. He said his next steps are “getting to know” fellow council members, as well as Mayor-elect Erin Mendenhall.

Luke’s concession comes just days after he was reluctant to concede following Friday’s results, noting there were still ballots to be counted and expressing desire to “follow the election count process to its conclusion.”

As of Friday, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said about 600 provisional ballots cast countywide were still being verified, along with any responses to notices sent out about ballots sent in that were missing a signature or had other issues. She didn’t think there were enough outstanding Salt Lake City ballots to make a difference in the District 6 race. Another batch of results was slated to be posted Wednesday by 3 p.m., while the final canvass is Nov. 19.

Related:

Salt Lake City Council chairman still trails opponent in latest results

Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said all that’s left to count are more than 600 provisional ballots cast countywide that are still being verified, along with any responses to notices sent out about ballots sent in that were missing a signature or had other issues.

But Monday, Luke conceded. Of the 4,578 votes cast in the east-side race, 4,411 were for Luke, compared to 4,578 for Dugan. As results stand now, Luke has lost by less than 2 percentage points, with 49.07% compared to Dugan’s 50.93%.

That is outside the .25% vote margin that state code requires for a recount.

In an interview with KSL last week, Luke attributed his close race with Dugan as a symptom of seeking a third term, which he expected would be an uphill climb. He also said another contributing factor was frustration over the Utah Inland Port Authority.

Over the last year, Luke has served as the City Council’s chairman, when public outcry over the port authority reached a boiling point. While frustrations over the authority have largely been pointed at state leaders, city leaders recently caught the ire of inland port critics when the City Council finalized a $28 million tax reimbursement deal on a warehouse development in the area.

Dugan campaigned with promises to fight the inland port from every direction while questioning whether Luke was truly against the development of the port. He also promised to prioritize clean-air practices and improving public transit.

Dugan attributed his campaign’s success to a ground-game strategy.

“We really went out and just knocked on doors and talked with everybody we could,” Dugan said. “That was our goal from the beginning.”

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