For The Salt Lake Tribune’s most up-to-date election coverage, check out our articles about the races in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and beyond.

Syracuse: Upset brewing in mayor race

9:39 p.m.

First-term Mayor Mike Gailey is trailing City Council member Dave Maughan by fewer than 200 votes in the tight contest for mayor.

Maughan has been a member of the City Council since 2015.

Jordan Savage and Jennifer Carver are in the lead over Brett Cragun and Paul Watson in the race for two seats on the council. Savage is seeking another term on the council.

Just 564 votes separate first and fourth place in that contest.

— Bryan Schott

Park City: Voters are on track to change mayors

9:39 p.m.

In early returns Tuesday night, incumbent Mayor Andy Beerman was trailing Councilwoman Nann Worel, 61% to 39%.

Beerman, who had served one term as mayor, had trailed Worel in the race from the start, finishing a distant second to Worel in the primary. In the closing week of the election he had been battered by a controversy over a Black Lives Matter mural, one of four racial justice murals painted on Park City’s Main Street.

It wasn’t necessarily the message of the mural that dogged him. He was accused of inadequately involving the council in the decision and of having misrepresented what he knew about the planned mural and when he knew it.

Worel, who has been on the City Council since 2016, promised a more inclusive leadership style.

Voters also appear poised to oust two-term councilman Tim Henney, who was trailing candidates Tana Toly and Jeremy Rubell. The top two vote-getters win the two open seats.

— Robert Gehrke

Millcreek: Mayor’s campaign manager may win council seat

9:28 p.m.

Two City Council seats are in play in Millcreek, which is using ranked choice voting.

Council member Bev Uipi has a big lead in District 4, according to early unofficial results. Uipi has 56.9% of the vote and Bruce Parker is in second with 43.1%. The other candidates are Rex Williams and Beverly Boyce, who were eliminated in earlier rounds.

District 2 has been represented by Dwight Marchant, who did not run for another term. Thom Desirant is in the lead, though he wasn’t on the first round of balloting.

Jeremiah Clark was more voters’ first choice but after Lynda Bagley-Gibson and Angel Vice were eliminated, more of their votes moved to Desirant, who was previously the campaign manager for Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini.

Desirant has 51.7% to Clark’s 48.3%.

— Matt Canham

Holladay: The city has only one contested race, and it is a close one

9:27 p.m.

The only contested election Holladay is for City Council District 1, where Sabrina Petersen did not run for reelection.

D. Ty Brewer has the lead over Melissa Blackham Hilton, 51.4% to 48.6%.

Mayor Robert Dahle and District 3 council member Paul Fotheringham ran unopposed and will now serve another term.

— Matt Canham

Draper: One City Council race is tight, while mayor wins another term

9:27 p.m.

There’s no competition for Mayor Troy Walker, who ran unopposed to gain a third term Tuesday.

The real race is for two City Council spots. Seven candidates are competing using ranked choice voting.

The early, unofficial results shows Tasha Lowery has claimed one seat and Mike Green is in the lead, though Hubert Huh is in a close second for that second seat.

Green has 50.1% to Huh’s 49.9%.

Lowery and Green are current City Council members.

Since this is ranked choice voting, additional returns may change the outcome.

The other candidates, who appear to be eliminated are Will Ashby, Danita Rouzer, Russ Fugal and Rachelle Farley.

— Matt Canham

Langianese to be new Moab mayor

9:27 p.m.

Joette Langianese is the Mayor-elect for the City of Moab.

Preliminary results of the Moab City election shows that Langianese won 53.2% of votes to second place finisher Bill Winfield, who secured 46.8% of votes. The results come after five rounds of the ranked choice voting system.

As Mayor-elect, Langianese will focus on the health, safety, and welfare of all Moab residents, according to her official campaign page.

Results are still pending for the two city council seats for Moab City Council.

— Alastair Lee Bitsóí

No contest in North Salt Lake mayor’s race

9:19 p.m.

City Councilmember Brian Horrocks looks to be cruising to an easy win in the race to replace Len Arave as mayor of North Salt Lake.

Arave, who was first elected in 2009, is stepping down after 12 years

Horrocks, who is running against Gary Widders, has received just over 80% of the vote in results posted on Tuesday evening.

In the city council contest, Alisa Vanlangaveld and Lisa Baskin lead a field of four candidates for two open seats. Baskin is seeking re-election.

— Bryan Schott

Brighton: Incumbents take sizable leads in Town Council race

9:19 p.m.

In Big Cottonwood Canyon, Mayor Dan Knopp is coasting to another term with no challengers in this race. While three candidates for an at-large seat on the Town Council are vying for two openings.

In early, unofficial results Carolyn Keigley (47%) and Keith Zuspan (33.6%) have significant leads. They are both sitting Town Council members. In third is Eli A. Lovett at 19.4%.

— Matt Canham

Alta: A new mayor is elected, but his wife is in third in the Town Council race

9:19 p.m.

In the Little Cottonwood Canyon resort town of Alta, only one person on the ballot won’t come away with a spot in the government.

Mayor Harris Sondak withdrew in his bid for reelection, leaving Roger Bourke as the only candidate.

There are three candidates for Town Council and two will win seats.

John Byrne (39.7%) and Carolyn Anctil (33.6%) had the early lead according to unofficial results.

The other candidate is Margaret Bourke, a sitting Town Council member and the wife of Mayor-elect Roger Bourke. She has 26.7%

— Matt Canham

Orem: Young takes lead over Evans

10:49 p.m.

Dave Young has taken lead over former Orem Mayor Jim Evans, according to early election results.

The unofficial numbers show Evans is currently down 16 percentage to Young in a race that has centered on public safety and growth issues.

Those topics came to the forefront earlier in the election season with a flap over a property owner’s requirement that — in order to place signs on its real estate — candidates must first sign an agreement to support continued development on their land. Evans signed the pledge to back the existing growth plans for the University Place mall property, while Young refused to endorse the document.

One of Evans’ last acts as mayor in 2013 was to approve the plan for the mall property’s development.

“That’s why I didn’t see it was that big of a deal,” he told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I’m not agreeing to do something I didn’t already agree to.”

However, several other candidates, including incumbent City Councilman David Spencer and council hopeful LaNae Millett, also declined to sign the University Place agreement.

Five council candidates are competing over three open seats. The initial batch of election results put Lanae Millett in the lead with 20% of the vote. David M. Spencer was second with 18% and Tom MacDonald was third with 17%. Quinn Mecham, Shaunte Ruiz Zundel and Nichelle Jensen trailed with 11% or less.

— Bethany Rodgers

New blood in Davis County mayoral races

9:16 p.m.

There are 15 cities and towns in Davis County, the third most populous county in the state, and after this election it looks like residents could end up with at least 11 and possibly a dozen brand new mayors.

The bulk of that is attrition. Ten of the mayors opted to not seek re-election.

But in early returns Tuesday night, two-term incumbent Mayor Randy Lewis was way behind challenger, two-term Councilwoman Kendalyn Keyes Harris. Harris was beating Lewis two-to-one in early results.

Lewis had ruffled feathers in Bountiful, including wading into a dispute over the Bountiful High School Braves mascot, defending the logo, telling one woman to be “less easily offended” and challenging whether she was an “official representative” of offended indigenous communities.

Anyway, that’s 11.

And in Clinton, early returns put incumbent Mayor Mitch Adams in a nail-biter with challenger Brandon Stanger. Adams was trailing by nine votes when the first batch of results posted Tuesday night.

Mark Shepherd won a third term as Clearfield mayor, running unopposed and Joy Petro won re-election in Layton.

Elsewhere, Clark Wilkinson was leading Lawrence Wright in the race for Centerville mayor; Brett Anderson was leading Rebecca Wayment in the Farmington race; Tamara Tran was up on Jay Welk in Kaysville; Brian Horrocks was headed to victory in North Salt Lake; and Dave Maughan and Michael Gailey were still too close to call in the Syracuse contest.

— Robert Gehrke

Provo: Mayor Kaufusi holds commanding lead in mayor’s race

9:06 p.m.

The first batch of election results show Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi with a strong lead over her opponent — a man who made headlines last year when he was shot while driving through a crowd of protesters.

Ken Dudley trailed Kaufusi, who was first elected mayor in 2017, by 68% to 16%, according to initial unofficial numbers released Tuesday evening.

Dudley said he launched his campaign in part because of his experience last year, when he was shot during a protest against police violence. He had been driving his SUV into the group of demonstrators at the time, and participants in the protest have said they felt endangered. A protester has been charged in connection with Dudley’s shooting.

Since then, Dudley has joined United Citizens Alarm, a militia group that has shown up at Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the state.

Kaufusi, who appears to have won reelection, has noted that she’s been endorsed by professional firefighters and police.

— Bethany Rodgers

Copperton: Write-in campaign on track to oust councilman

9:00 p.m.

Incumbent Kevin Severson, who ran as a write-in candidate, appears to have been narrowly knocked out of his at-large Seat E on the Copperton Metro Township Council. Challenger Ronald Patrick is ahead by 3.8 percentage points, according to the current tally.

— Leia Larsen

Kaysville: Tran on track to become Mayor. Voters approve tax hike for parks and recreation.

8:55 p.m.

City Councilmember Tami Tran holds a lead over first-time candidate Jay Welk in the race to replace Katie Witt as mayor.

Tran leads by more than 1,200 votes.

There are four candidates for the two open slots on the Kaysville City Council. As of Tuesday night, Abbi Hunt and Perry Oaks are in the lead, with Andre Lortz and Nate Jackson hoping to catch up.

Kaysville voters have approved a ballot initiative seeking a 0.1% sales tax increase to fund museums and recreation improvements by more than 2-1.

— Bryan Schott

Eric Barney is ahead of incumbent Brint Peel for Magna’s Metro Township Council

8:50 p.m.

Metro Township Council • Eric Barney is ahead in the ranked choice race for District 2 with 56% of votes. Incumbent Brint Peel got almost 37% of votes. Paris Ramos has 7% of votes, so far.

District 4 council member Trish Hull ran unopposed.

— Alixel Cabrera

West Jordan: Early returns show Chad Lamb behind in bid to retain his at-large seat

8:50 p.m.

Pamela Bloom has edged out incumbent Chad Lamb for one of three City Council at-large seats up for grabs, according to the early unofficial results.

The current tally sits at 22.6% of the votes for incumbent Kayleen Whitelock, 19.6% for both Bloom and incumbent Kelvin Green, 18.8% for Lamb and fewer than 10% of the votes going to challengers Mike S. Withers and Mikey Smith.

— Leia Larsen

Cottonwood Heights: In the mayor’s race, Mike Weichers takes the lead

8:48 p.m.

Cottonwood Heights is getting a new mayor, and Mike Weichers has the early lead, according to the unofficial results.

Mayor Mike Peterson decided not to run again and will leave office after one term. The mayor leads a five-person City Council. A city manager handles Cottonwood Heights’ day-to-day functions.

Peterson, along with former Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore and Police Chief Robby Russo, have lined up behind Weichers, making him the establishment favorite. Weichers, who works at Zions Bank, is a newcomer to politics.

He has 53.4% of the vote after four rounds of ranked choice voting, having maintained his lead from the beginning. Eric Kraan is second with 46.6%.

The other mayoral candidates include Maile Evans, Timothy Hallbeck and Ed Schwartz, who have been eliminated after four rounds of ranked choice voting.

One of the biggest issues in the race has been the transportation plan for Little Cottonwood Canyon. All of the candidates oppose the idea of a gondola and have focused on some version of increased buses or shuttles.

The other has been public safety and the job Russo has done as chief, including his department’s response to police violence protests.

Weichers, Evans and Hallbeck support Russo. Kraan and Schwartz say it is time for Russo to go.

Beyond the race for mayor, the city has two council contests for open seats.

District 3 is now represented by Tali Bruce, who has sparred repeatedly with Russo. She did not run for reelection. Shawn E. Newell has the lead, with 52% of the vote. Mike Hanson is second with 48%. The other candidates, Runar E. Boman, David Rawlings and E. Samuel McShaffrey, were eliminated in earlier rounds of ranked choice voting.

In District 4, now represented by Christine Mikell, Ellen Birrell has taken a lead, with 53.1% of the vote. Ernie Kim is in second with 46.9%. And Lee Anne Walker came in third and was eliminated.

— Matt Canham

Taylorsville gets a new face on the City Council

8:48 p.m.

Most of the candidates in Taylorsville ran uncontested, including Mayor Kristie Steadman Overson.

For city council, Robert Knudsen is leading the race for District 5 seat with 52% of the votes, according to unofficial reports. Incumbent Dan Armstrong did not seek another term. Knudsen works as an accountant at the University of Utah, and his challenger, Larry Johnson, who has almost 48% of votes, is a former Taylorsville mayor.

Anna Barbieri, a former Taylorsville planner who was appointed to represent District 3 in 2020, ran unopposed.

Meredith Harker, who represents District 4, also ran uncontested.

— Alixel Cabrera

Riverton easily reelects incumbents

8:48 p.m.

Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs, District 3 Councilwoman Tawnee McCay and District 4 Councilwoman Tish Buroker all ran unopposed and received 100% of the vote.

— Alixel Cabrera

Sandy: A tight two-candidate race has emerged for mayor

8:43 p.m.

In the jampacked race for Sandy mayor, a tight two-way race between Monica Zoltanski and Jim Bennett has emerged, according to the unofficial results released shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m.

Eight candidates were crowded onto the ranked choice ballot in Sandy, the most in any Salt Lake County contest. The contest includes four current City Council members, one former member, the top staffer for the council and a former congressional candidate.

Zoltanski, a City Council member, leads with 50.3% of the vote while Bennett, a businessman, has 49.7%. In ranked choice, the other candidates are eliminated. Zoltanski maintained her lead through each round.

Interest in this race spiked after Mayor Kurt Bradburn declined to seek a second term. He’s had a difficult time in office, having been accused of not informing the public early enough about a huge spike in fluoride in the drinking water. His relationship with the council has also become strained.

Bennett — a businessman, son of the late U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett and United Utah Party congressional hopeful several years ago — has been the best-financed candidate and among the most aggressive in placing yard signs that have overwhelmed some parts of Sandy.

He is one of two candidates not connected to the council. The other is Ronald Jones, who ran largely to oppose ranked-choice voting, and has been the least active of the candidates. Jones received the fewest votes and was the first to be eliminated.

Linda Saville, a former longtime council member, was among the earliest candidates in the race. She is in fourth.

The sitting council members running include Zoltanski and Kris Nicholl, who was the last candidate to be eliminated in ranked choice voting. The other council members in the race are Brooke Christensen and Marci Houseman.

Mike Applegarth, the executive director for the council, also is a candidate. He was the third candidate eliminated.

Beyond the mayor’s race, the city has three council seats and voters will elect a new representative for each one.

The early leader for the at-large seat, now represented by Zach Robinson, is Brooke D’Sousa, who claimed 53.4% of the vote after five rounds. In second is Aaron Dekeyzer, with 46.6%.

The other candidates are Steven Calbert, Rebecca Colley, Evan Tobin and Kristen Wray.

In District 1, which is being vacated by mayoral candidate Christensen, Ryan Mecham, with 50.4% has a slight lead over Katie Johnson who has 49.6%. Jeffory Mulcahy came in a distant third.

In District 3, which is being vacated by mayoral hopeful Nicholls, Robinson, who now is the at-large council member, has a big lead, with 52.2%. In second is Jim Edwards at 36.7% and Bekah Craig is third with 11.1%. Since Robinson has more than 50%, no candidate was eliminated.

— Matt Canham

Hales hold comfortably lead in Murray race for a new mayor

8:43 p.m.

Brett A. Hales holds an impressive lead over Clark Bullen to replace outgoing Murray Mayor D. Blair Camp, receiving 61.3% of the vote, according to unofficial results.

Pamela J. Cotter is ahead of Joe Silverzweig by 15 percentage points for District 2, while District 4 incumbent Diane Turner has a strong 29-point lead over challenger Daren Rasmussen.

— Leia Larsen

Natalie Hall leads Bluffdale mayoral race over former Fire Chief John Roberts

8:39 p.m.

In the mayoral race, Natalie Hall leads over John Roberts with 77% of the votes, according to unofficial early returns.

Mayor Derk Timothy, who has served in that role since 2010, decided not to chase another term.

Bluffdale opted to try ranked choice voting this year, but only two candidates emerged for mayor.

In the contest for city council, incumbent Wendy Aston received almost 51% of the early votes and incumbent Traci Crockett got 49%. Both Aston and Crockett hold the lead for two open City Council at-large seats.

Aston has also represented Bluffdale on the Jordan River Commission and as mayor pro tempore.

Crockett works as a real estate agent and previously served as a teacher and planning commissioner.

Challenger Blain Dietrich has almost 10% of the vote, while Connie Robbins has 24% and Tammy Rasmussen has almost 6%.

— Alixel Cabrera

South Salt Lake mayor surges ahead, while incumbent City Council members hang on to leads

8:36 p.m.

South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood has a strong lead over challengers Jake Christensen and L. Shane Siwik. The first round of ranked voting shows her with 59.3% of the votes, followed by Christensen at 22.1% and Siwik with 18.6%.

Wood will hold her office if she remains above 50% in the next round.

No ranked choice selections were necessary for City Council races, because only two candidates filed for each open position. Clarissa J. Williams has edged ahead of Olivia Spencer for an at-large seat with 52.7% of the votes, according to early returns.

Incumbent Corey Thomas has a narrow lead over challenger Sam Garfield in District 2, with Thomas earning 52% of the votes so far.

Meanwhile, incumbent Sharla Bynum sits comfortably ahead of Aileen E. Hampton in District 3, garnering 69.1% of the ballots counted.

— Leia Larsen

Lorin Palmer takes early lead in Herriman’s mayoral race

8:32 p.m.

In early returns, Lorin Palmer holds the lead to become the new mayor of Herriman with 62% of the vote, according to early unofficial returns.

Incumbent David Watts did not seek reelection. Candidate Clint Smith, who serves on the City Council representing District 2, got almost 38% of votes.

Palmer is the co-founder of Herriman for Responsible Growth.

Teddy Hodges leads in early results for the race for the District 2 council seat with 69% of ballots tallied so far. Aly Escobar received 31% of the votes.

Sherrie Ohrn ran unopposed for her reelection in District 3.

— Alixel Cabrera

Salt Lake City Council District 5: Darin Mano has a commanding lead

8:32 p.m.

City Council member Darin Mano has emerged with a big lead in the race to represent the district once led by Mayor Erin Mendenhall, according to the early unofficial results.

Since Mendenhall became mayor, District 5 has been represented by Mano, an architect appointed by the remaining council members. This is his first time seeking voter approval and he has four challengers.

Mano has 51.2% of the vote so far and his nearest competitor, Sarah Reale, has 24%.

Reale works in marketing at Salt Lake Community College.

In third is Amy J. Hawkins, who leads the Ballpark Community Council and teaches at the University of Utah medical school. Hawkins received 18.7%.

George Chapman, a retired engineer and a regular at council meetings, is in fourth at 5.1%.

Vance Hansen, who has worked in security, has 1%

District 5 includes the Ballpark, Central Ninth Liberty Wells and East Liberty Park neighborhoods.

Hawkins and Chapman have focused heavily on the Ballpark neighborhood and issues of public safety, including the impact of people who are unsheltered.

Mano and Reale have sought a wider conversation to include discussions of future residential growth and density.

— Matt Canham

West Valley City: Council member Karen Lang ahead in race to lead Utah’s second largest city

8:28 p.m.

With nearly 59% of votes, Karen Lang holds the lead over Steve Buhler to become West Valley City’s next mayor, according to early unofficial results.

Both Buhler and Lang currently serve on the City Council.

Incumbent Ron Bigelow did not seek another term.

Incumbent Lars Nordfelt leads the race for an at-large seat on the City Council with 59% of votes, so far.

Nordfelt has served on the council since 2014. Challenger Jim Vesock is 23 percentage points behind. Write-in candidate Lindie Sue Beaudoin, a U.S. Navy Nurse Corps veteran, has 4% of the vote.

With nearly 60% of the votes, Scott Harmon leads the race for the District 2 seat, which Buhler currently holds. Chris Bell, a Salt Lake Community College student, has 40%

And, with 53% of the votes, incumbent Jake Fitisemanu is ahead for the District 4 seat. Fitisemanu is a program manager with the Utah Department of Health. His challenger is Darrell R. Curtis, a 25-year West Valley City resident.

— Alixel Cabrera

Midvale mayor holds slim lead

8:28 p.m.

Mayor Robert Hale is leading in his bid for reelection with 50.3% of the vote, according to early unofficial results. Challenger Marcus Stevenson is behind with 49.7% in the ranked choice race and Amanda Hollingsworth has almost 11%.

Dustin Gettel leads the race for City Council District 5 with 72% of the votes. Incumbent Dustin Gettel is challenged by Wayne Sharp, who received almost 28% of votes.

Bryant Brown ran unopposed to keep his District 4 seat.

— Alixel Cabrera

Salt Lake City District 7: Council Chair Amy Fowler cruising to another term

8:26 p.m.

Salt Lake City Council Chair Amy Fowler has a massive lead in her District 7 race, according to the early unofficial returns.

This district includes Sugar House and Foothill neighborhoods, where development has surged in recent years.

Fowler, the City Council chair, has 65.2% of the vote. A criminal defense attorney, she has listed her work to restore Allen Park and improve Sugar House roads as major accomplishments. She has named affordable housing as one of her top priorities.

Her main opponent is Ben Raskin, a writer for USANA Health Sciences and a former bartender, who has 28.6% of the vote. Raskin has called Sugar House “the soul of the city” and wants more public art in the area. He has identified public safety and water conservation as some of his key issues.

Rainer Huck, who is retired, is also on the ballot but has run a limited race. He received 6.2% of the vote.

— Matt Canham

Salt Lake District 3: Incumbent Chris Wharton has large lead

8:26 p.m.

Salt Lake City Council Member Chris Wharton has a huge lead in his bid for reelection in District 3, according to early unofficial results.

This district includes the Capitol Hill, Guadalupe and Marmalade neighborhoods along with Federal Heights and the Avenues.

Wharton, an attorney, received 63.2% of the vote in this ranked choice race. He currently serves as the Council’s vice chair and has focused on issues of equity, having previously served on the city’s Human Rights Commission.

He was challenged by Casey O’Brien McDonough, an architect, owner of three coffee shops and a member of the Utah National Guard and David Berg, who is vice chair of the Utah Democratic Party’s environmental caucus and a frontline health care worker.

So far, McDonough has received 20.4% of the vote and Berg took 16.5%.

— Matt Canham

In Salt Lake City District 2, Alejandro Puy jumps out to big lead

8:24 p.m.

In the crowded and congenial race to represent this west-side seat, Alejandro Puy has taken a significant lead, according to the early unofficial results.

District 2 — which includes the Glendale and Poplar Grove neighborhoods along with part of Fairpark — has been represented by Dennis Faris for the past five months since former council member Andrew Johnston resigned to work for Mayor Erin Mendenhall on the issue of homelessness.

Five men of color have been competing in this race, which is being decided by ranked choice voting.

In early results, Faris, who works for Volunteers of America Utah, appears to be eliminated, coming in third and Billy Palmer, a former longtime host at community radio KRCL, and Puy.

Puy has 57.9% of the vote to Palmer’s 42.1%.

Already eliminated is Nigel Swaby, a real estate agent, who was followed by Daniel Tuutau, a liason for nonprofits.

— Matt Canham

Salt Lake City District 1: Victoria Petro-Eschler takes a lead in this open seat

8:10 p.m.

Victoria Petro-Eschler has an early lead in a race that is sure to add a new face to the Salt Lake City Council, according to the early unofficial results released shortly after polls closed.

This west-side district — which includes the Rose Park, Westpoint and Jordan Meadows neighborhoods along with part of the Fairpark area — has seen a competitive contest between Petro-Eschler and Blake Perez.

Petro-Eschler has 52.4% of the vote to Perez’s 47.6% in this ranked choice voting race.

This district had been represented by James Rogers for the past two terms. He decided not to run again this year and then he resigned his seat at the beginning of October to spend more time with his children.

Rogers’ resignation means the winner of this race will likely get an early start. The Salt Lake City Council has already planned a meeting for next Tuesday to pick the temporary council member for the rest of this year.

Perez has been backed by Rogers along with other political leaders such as former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams and state Sen. Derek Kitchen. Perez is the deputy director of the Central Wasatch Commission and previously headed the Rose Park Community Council.

Petro-Eschler has received endorsements from state Sen. Luz Escamilla and former state Rep. Jen Seelig among others. Petro-Eschler is the executive director of the Salty Cricket Composers Collective, a nonprofit that introduces new audiences to modern classical music. She also serves on the city’s Historic Landmark Commission.

Richard D.M. Barnes, a geologist, also ran. With ranked choice voting, those ballots were shifted to the voters’ second choice if the voter listed one.

Results will be updated later tonight.

— Matt Canham

Twitter weighs in on ranked choice voting

7:49 p.m.

In the field of political science, it is a well-established fact that there is nothing more reliable than a poll conducted via social media.

Alright, that is not true at all. But even if they’re not statistically valid, these kinds of surveys can at least be mildly interesting — especially when I’m sitting around waiting for polls to close and election returns to start showing up.

So I decided to ask what the good people on Twitter thought about what for most of them was their first encounter with ranked choice voting. And honestly, I was surprised even in this non-scientific sample how many really liked it.

In the first 90 minutes the poll was up we got more than 238 responses, and 80% of them liked ranked choice voting and wanted to see it expanded statewide. Pretty overwhelming.

Among the remainder, 10% thought it was fine, but wanted local governments to be left with the option of whether to use it and 10% didn’t like it and wanted to get rid of it.

And when I asked for people to tell me about their experience, the results were basically the same. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say.

— Robert Gehrke

Emmy-nominated actor backs Kaysville candidate

6:46 p.m.

With apologies to Talking Heads, you may ask yourself why is former “Cheers” actor John Ratzenberger endorsing a candidate for Kaysville mayor?

The answer is not as strange as you might imagine, according to first-time candidate Jay Welk.

“He’s very involved in career and technical education,” explained Welk, who is the director of CTE for the Davis School District.

Welk says Ratzenberger, whom he met through a mutual friend, was a carpenter before becoming an actor.

“His son is a plumber. He believes very strongly that students should leave high school with a skill set. A lot of kids who go to postsecondary education aren’t going to be lawyers, doctors or investment bankers,” Welk said.

As part of the endorsement, Welk’s campaign sent out texts to voters featuring Ratzenberger’s stamp of approval.

Welk is facing Tami Tran in the race to replace sitting Mayor Katie Witt, who is not running for re-election.

— Bryan Schott

An estimated two-thirds of Davis County voters will sit out election

6:10 p.m.

Davis County Clerk/Auditor Curtis Koch said before by-mail voting, officials were happy for voter turnout percentages that broke double digits during municipal elections.

So with an estimated turnout of between 30% and 35% in this year’s general election, the county is at least doing better than it once did, he says.

Still, Koch would like to see more Davis County residents weigh in on who should lead their cities and towns.

“This is where elections really impact our daily lives,” he said. “We’re encouraged that more people are getting engaged, and I would chalk that up to vote by mail. But certainly there’s room to improve overall.”

Voting so far has gone smoothly in the county, he said. No Davis County cities are testing out ranked choice voting this year.

— Bethany Rodgers

Moab tries out new ranked choice voting system

5:14 p.m.

In Moab, voters will decide among six candidates as mayor for the next four years.

This election cycle, voters are using the newly adopted ranked choice system, which allows them to rank candidates in order of preference. The mayoral candidates are Bill Winfield, Aaron Davies, Stephen J. Stocks, Sherri Costanza, V. Kent Green and Joette Langianese.

Six candidates will also vie for one of two seats on the Moab City Council. Those candidates are Josie Kovash, Luke Wojciechowski, Randall Fox, Anthony Charles, Mike McCurdy and Jason Taylor.

All city elections are at-large and also are non-partisan. Moab is one of the few cities in Utah to adopt this type of voting system for its actively registered 2,103 voters.

As of 4 p.m., voter turnout stood at about 40%, according to Kerri Kirk, Moab’s deputy recorder.

“It’s been nonstop busy here,” Kirk told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I know we had over 1,000 processed as of last night.”

— Alastair Lee Bitsóí

Last-minute voting help

4:20 p.m.

Are you filling out your ballot at the last minute to drop it off at a voting center, or do you plan to vote the old-fashioned way, in person, before polls close at 8 p.m?

But you’re at a loss for whom to vote.

Let us help.

For information about Salt Lake City Council races, you can go here for District 5, here for Districts 1 and 2 and here for a Q&A with the candidates in all the council contests.

Maybe you live elsewhere in Salt Lake County. Go here for the West Valley City mayoral race, here for the crowded Sandy showdown, here for the intriguing Cottonwood Heights finale, here for the Midvale matchup, here for Herriman, here for Bluffdale, and here for information on all the candidates running in Salt Lake County.

And if you live farther south down the Wasatch Front, here’s some help for Provo and Orem voters.

For those that live in Heber City or Park City, go here and here.

Finally, if you live in one of the tourist capitals of the West, Moab voters can get voting information here.

Good luck. Make your voice heard.

— David Noyce, Grant Burningham and Jeff Parrott

Voter turnout on the Wasatch Front expected to be very low

1:15 p.m.

In the ranking of things that people get super excited about, municipal elections appear to be pretty far down the list.

Heading into Tuesday’s election, just under 20% of registered voters in Utah County had cast ballots early, according to Josh Daniels, the county clerk. Daniels said he anticipated another 15% would be casting ballots during the course of the day, bringing the total to around 35%.

That’s a small turnout, considering cities and towns like Alpine, American Fork, Eagle Mountain, Orem, Provo and Spanish Fork will all be electing their next mayors, and there are dozens of city council candidates up for election as well.

It’s also not unexpected.

There was no way turnout would come close to the 89.2% of the county’s 326,485 registered voters that cast ballots in the 2020 general election.

Still, if 35% of that same number of registered voters come out this year, that will translate into a little over 114,000 votes cast, a record number of voters to cast ballots in off-year municipal races in growing Utah County.

In 2019, turnout was 33.8% in the county, or 89,292 votes cast. In 2017, turnout was a robust 39.7%, or 92,643 votes. And in 2015, the number of votes was right around 66,500.

Meantime, in Salt Lake County, turnout is projected to come in at around 30% to 35% — right around the 34% turnout from the 2019 municipal elections, but again well below the 90% turnout from 2020.

As of Thursday, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen said that about 15% of voters had already cast ballots, a figure she characterized as “disappointing.”

— Robert Gehrke