New mayors in Oakley, Francis and Coalville and a tied race for a Kamas City Council seat highlighted the preliminary election results released by the Summit County Clerk’s Office late Tuesday evening.
By Wednesday afternoon, when a large portion of outstanding ballots had been counted, the tie had been broken, but the other results had held.
An unknown number of mail-in ballots with a valid postmark were likely continue to arrive after Wednesday. The vote totals won’t be final until the cities hold official canvasses to certify results, which will be at least one week and no more than two weeks after Election Day.
The margins in most races, however, appear too large to change.
In the Coalville mayoral race, native son Mark Marsh appears to have defeated Lynn Wood, who prominently opposed a controversial large-scale development that shaped local politics. For the City Council, however, a prominent development opponent appears to have won a seat, along with another who has said citizens are concerned about the city’s growth.
In Oakley, Zane Woolstenhulme has what appears to be a comfortable margin over City Councilor Joe Frazier for the mayor’s office.
And in Kamas, two candidates were tied for the second City Council seat after preliminary results were released Tuesday. The margin grew to nine votes by Wednesday, but could still change as the remaining ballots are counted.
New mayor in Oakley
The names vying for mayor in Oakley, Frazier and Woolstenhulme, have been on many ballots over the years.
Current Mayor Wade Woolstenhulme did not seek another term, and after Wednesday’s count, his brother Zane Woolstenhulme led Frazier by 35 votes, 298-263.
Zane Woolstenhulme thanked a core group of supporters for helping his campaign and said he was gratified and humbled to be in a position to win.
“I’m just grateful it turned out how it did,” he said, crediting Frazier for running a good campaign.
Zane Woolstenhulme said he was excited to get to work, but first needed to learn how to do the job.
“My first priorities are to make sure I understand the lay of the land and the role of the mayor in the city government, and exactly what are my responsibilities, and once I know what all of that is, then I need to sit down and make a plan for next steps,” he said.
He indicated a new well to bolster the city’s water supply would likely be under construction as he takes office in January and that other aspects of the city’s water infrastructure likely need improvement.
“One of the things I want to do is put together some sort of capital improvement plan to inform discussions and decisions going forward to try to stay ahead of the curve, if you will, so that we’re not always playing catch-up,” he said.
In the City Council race, incumbents Kelly Kimber and Steve Wilmoth received the most votes, with 408 and 266, respectively. The next-highest challenger, Clayton Page, had 207 votes, while Marissa Dillman had 189.
Tight race for Kamas City Council
Kamas Mayor Matt McCormick won another term in office after running unopposed.
The City Council race, however, was closely contested.
David W. Darcey was the highest vote-getter, with 330 votes. Jessica Allen Bateman was the next highest, with 239, and right behind her was Kandilee Sauter, with 230.
Bateman and Sauter had been tied at 201 votes when initial results were released Tuesday evening.
For a candidate to request a recount, the final margin would have to be within 0.25% of the total votes cast in the race, according to County Clerk Eve Furse. That would be two votes.
Natalie Souza finished fourth, with 148 votes in Wednesday’s count.
Uncontested races in Francis
Francis Mayor Byron Ames decided not to seek another term and will be succeeded by current Planning Commissioner Jan Brussel, who ran unopposed.
The City Council races were also uncontested. Incumbent Shana Fryer sought another term, but incumbent Trilby Cox did not. That seat will be filled by Clayton Querry.
Leadership change in Coalville
Nearly a dozen candidates sought elected office in Coalville this year after a development proposal involving a second-home golf community spurred intense community debate.
The mayoral race pitted Lynn Wood, a prominent opponent of the plan, against Mark Marsh, a Coalville native who formerly ran a small business in the area.
As of Wednesday evening’s results, Marsh held a 48-vote lead, with 273 votes to Wood’s 225.
Marsh, who has also served on the State Board of Education and North Summit Board of Education, said his background as a longtime Coalville resident likely helped his candidacy.
“I was happy to see that people in my community still trust me and understand that I served them for other years in other capacities,” he said. “It came in good for me so I was happy with the results, absolutely.”
He said the city should take steps to protect local businesses and Main Street as growth comes to the area.
Marsh said one of the first things he would do as mayor is to convene a community focus group to set priorities for elected officials, something he’s pursued on other boards he’s led.
He would ask city councilors to invite 10 or so people each and eventually convene a group of 60 or 70 residents to talk about their highest priorities, which he said would serve as “marching orders” for city officials.
Among those city officials will be two new faces, as no incumbent city councilor was on the ballot. Louise Willoughby was the top vote-getter, with 293 votes, followed by Steven B. Richins with 259. The next closest challenger is Stefanie Bowen, with 218 votes, followed by Christopher Horne with 185.
Though the results appear unlikely to change, Richins should know better than most that preliminary vote totals are not final. He was in sixth place in the August primary after initial results were released but surged ahead as additional votes were counted to take the fourth and final spot on the fall ballot. He now appears poised to become a city councilor, a post he previously held for 16 years.
Willoughby was a prominent opponent of the development proposal that engendered so much debate, while Richins has said people weren’t satisfied with the direction of the city’s growth.
No
contest in Henefer
Henefer canceled its election after three people filed to fill three seats.
Mayor Kay Richins will serve another term, as will City Councilor Detton Fawcett. Casey Ovard is replacing Matthew Shill on the council after Shill opted not to run again.
Familiar faces in Hideout
Though Hideout isn’t in Summit County, it has tried to annex land in the county, a move that has roiled local politics.
Mayor Phil Rubin, after filing for reelection with a half-hour to spare before the deadline, won another term following his opponent’s late withdrawal.
Chris Baier and Ralph Severini, both incumbent councilors, were elected to four-year terms, while fellow incumbents Bob Nadelberg and Carol Haselton were elected to two-year terms.
Incumbent leads in Fire District race
Incumbent Craig Fry leads Tyler Lewis by 92 votes, 1,002-910, in the South Summit Fire District commissioner race.