Tuesday was a bad day for incumbents.
Most of the incumbents who managed to sneak into the municipal election finals find themselves second to uppity challengers, with tough campaigns ahead over the next month if they're to keep their seats in the Nov. 7 finals.Voter turnout was generally light to moderate, with most cities running at around 20 percent. The low voter turnout may be good news for the incumbents who survived and now hope to draw more of their supporters to the final election polls.
In perhaps the highest-profile mayoral race in the state, Sandy Mayor Steve Newton survived the primary but placed second to former Mayor Larry Smith.
Smith was mayor four years ago but was beaten in the 1985 primary by Newton and City Councilman Dick Adair. Adair ran again this year, but Smith returned the favor as Adair finished well back in the field of nine mayoral candidates.
The Sandy race turned bitter this past week, with charges by the city's police union of mismanagement and deteriorating public safety and roads and countercharges by incumbent council members that the union was exaggerating or misstating facts.
Two-term Bountiful Mayor Dean Stahle is history. He finished last in a field of four candidates. Bob Linnell, a former city councilman, finished first. He faces second-place finisher George Burbidge, a construction firm supervisor.
Stahle's eight years often have been marked with controversy, the latest flap being over a little-publicized redevelopment agency meeting several weeks ago where a controversial downtown mall was approved.
In Salt Lake City, which has no mayor's race this year, a message may have been sent to so-called "Gang of Four" members Council Chairman Willie Stoler and Councilwoman Florence Bittner.
Stoler and Bittner made it into the finals, but both finished second to strong challengers.
Stoler and Bittner are the leading members of the four-vote bloc - nicknamed the Gang of Four - that often votes against policies advocated by Mayor Palmer DePaulis and the three other council members.
Stoler and Bittner were criticized in days just preceding the primary election for accepting large contributions from a Sugar House developer who will receive millions of dollars in city subsidizes on a shopping development. Both say they did nothing wrong in accepting the unsolicited donations and that the donations in no way influence their council duties.
In his Sugar House district, Stoler finished second to Don C. Hale - 36 percent to 57 percent, complete but unofficial Associated Press vote tallies showed. Hale is the owner of Hires Drive-In.
Stoler said he expects to turn the campaign around in the next month. He said Hale ran a good primary campaign and worked the district well and he believes votes in favor of Hale are not a reflection of Stoler's tenure on the council.
Bittner finished second to former City Councilman Ron Whitehead - 36 percent to 54 percent - in their Rose Park area district. Whitehead decided to challenge Bittner because of the controversy in the council the last two years since the Gang of Four formed its bloc.
Whitehead said he thinks Bittner's contributions - and her use of a Boy Scout troop to deliver her fliers - placed her in a bad public light and affected the primary race.
"I'm really happy to win, but with so few people voting (14 percent citywide), anything can happen in the general election," Whitehead said. "I don't think she (Bittner) represents the area, as far as listening to the people, and I think the same thing is happening downtown."
Said Bittner: "I'm not discouraged and this is exactly what I anticipated. This is part of my campaign strategy." Bittner said she started campaigning only two weeks ago while Whitehead has been on the stump for two months.
Councilman Tom Godfrey, who has often voted and spoken against the four-vote bloc, won his primary election. Godfrey captured 57 percent of the vote to second-place finisher Glen Cahoon's 36 percent. Cahoon also received most of his primary money from Clark Financial Corp.
In the open council seat - representing the Avenues section of the city - Nancy Pace will face Sanford Barrett. Councilwoman Sydney Fonnesbeck didn't seek re-election this year.
West Valley City has a mayoral race this year - kind of. Mayor Brent Anderson is now unopposed after two challengers withdrew last month. In council primaries, all the incumbents won by large margins and look strong for the final election.
Like many of his executive colleagues, Murray Mayor Lavar C. McMillan survived the primary election but finished second. Longtime city employee Lynn Pett got 43 percent of the vote to McMillan's 23 percent, unofficial results showed.
Orem Mayor S. Blaine Willes finished second to Stella Welsh, 39 percent to 41 percent.
Layton Mayor Richard McKenzie also sneaked into the finals. He beat third-place finisher Kent Dee Smith by just 12 votes. James J. Layton, who wants to become Layton's Mayor Layton, finished first with 29 percent of the vote.
Provo Mayor Joe Jenkins was one of the few exceptions, winning 33 percent of the vote. He'll face second-place finisher Sherman L. Hislop, who got 22 percent of the vote.
In Ogden, voters approved a bond to build or reconstruct a number of roads. But in a 33 percent voter turnout, high for a primary, they turned down bonds that would have restored Union Station, the Municipal Gardens and the Egyptian Theatre.
Grantsville voters, in a non-binding referendum vote, said they don't want hazardous-waste incinerators in or near their city. But state officials still can license hazardous waste companies as they see fit.
With the defeat of several incumbent mayors Tuesday, including those in Bountiful, Spanish Fork, Heber City and West Jordan, and the retirement of several other well-known mayors, many of the state's largest municipalities will have new executives next year.
Among those who chose not to seek re-election this year were Richfield Mayor Sue Marie Young, Logan Mayor Newel Daines, Riverton Mayor Dale Gardiner and Brigham City Mayor Peter Knudson.