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It will probably be late summer before Fred Healey decides whether he can stay in the running for Millcreek mayor due to his ailing health.
In a brief telephone interview Friday, Healey said he has not made a decision nor set a timeline for determining if his kidney-cancer diagnosis will allow him to campaign against Jeff Silvestrini for the right to be the first mayor of the valley's 17th city.
He referred all further questions to Hugh Matheson, a compatriot in Millcreek's pro-incorporation committee.
"Fred's got some meetings with doctors next week and surgery later this month. He just wants to get those things done and then make a decision. There's still plenty of time," Matheson said, anticipating six to eight weeks will pass before Healey can assess his status.
Healey finished second in the primary, a position that didn't change Friday when Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen updated results.
The new numbers reflected votes from about an additional 1,200 ballots that arrived in her office Wednesday with postmarks before the deadline. A few ballots that arrived late from polling places also were counted, she said.
The Millcreek portion of those ballots enabled Silvestrini, a 62-year-old attorney long active in community council and township affairs, to widen his lead by 267 votes. That gave him 3,943, roughly 33 percent of the total cast among nine primary candidates.
Healey, a 67-year-old businessman whose announcement of his illness also included an endorsement of Silvestrini, added just 84 votes to reach 3,071, or 25.7 percent.
Third-place finisher Scott Howell, a former state senator and government consultant, gained a bit of ground but still trailed Healey by 1,038 votes with 17 percent of the total.
If Healey were to withdraw from the race after his medical treatment for the aggressive cancer, Silvestrini would be unopposed going into the November general election.
State law does not allow the third-place candidate in a primary to move up if the first or second place finisher drops out, Swensen said, citing a 2014 Murray election as precedent.
Howell does not think it's appropriate for the city to come into existence with only once choice for mayor and vowed to do what he can to ensure Silvestrini has a challenger in the Nov. 8 election.
Swensen said write-in candidates for this or any other office must file with her office by Sept. 9.
Millcreek City will come into existence Jan. 1, 2017.