City Councilman Ron Gee got a second chance at winning his re-election bid when a five-vote loss in the primaries was reversed to become a 15-point win after votes were tallied.
But the 12-year council veteran's luck didn't hold up Tuesday. Gee was soundly defeated in the District 4 race by Ken Prince, a councilman with Gee from 1980 to 1984, by a margin of almost 2-1 in one of the city's most hotly contested races.Judy Bell and Stan Price were victorious among a pool of four candidates for at-large seats sought also by John R. Milano and Doug Thompson. Incumbent Dennis Tenney ran uncontested for the District 2 race.
Between the primary and Tuesday's election, Prince was able to personally avoid most of the controversy that played into his race with Gee. "I just wanted to run a clean race and was staying off to the side," he said. But the battle still raged between incumbent Gee and several others either in the campaign or at City Hall. And to some casual observers, it might have appeared that Gee, representing District 4, was running against Bell, a successful contestant in the at-large race.
"I have given endorsements and active support to two of his opponents - Judy Bell and Stan Price," said the mayor, who was not up for re-election this year. Both Bell and Price emerged victorious in the at-large race.
Gee's fight with Bell included accusations about the destruction of campaign signs. And Bell and Prince found themselves playing a campaign game of one-upmanship by offering $100 rewards for information about the destruction of anyone's campaign signs - all after Gee announced the same reward for information about the destruction of his signs.
Another black cloud that followed Gee's campaign was an audit and investigation by the Salt Lake County attorney's office regarding a road widening project on 1300 East that carved off part of Gee's back yard. The attorney's office cleared Gee of any criminal wrongdoing, but not until the 11th hour of the campaign.
Still, Prince was a little surprised by the almost 2-1 margin he held over Gee. "I thought it would be a little closer. We didn't know how to read it before this evening," Prince said. "I'm ecstatic to have this over with and have the confidence of the people."
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Try, try again
Winning an election is no guarantee of longevity in Sandy. And longevity held no guarantees for 12-year City Council veteran Ron Gee Tuesday.
The most predictable element to the city's politics is that defeated elected officials can win their way back. And candidates unsuccessful in an earlier race return to try again.
Mayor Larry Smith lost to Steve Newton in 1985 in a race that also included Councilman Dick Adair. Newton, in turn, lost to Smith in 1989.
The odds are against Smith if he decides to run for re-election when his term is up two years from now: It's been 22 years since a Sandy mayor successfully won a re-election bid.
This year, Gee lost in the primary election Oct. 8 only to have his race revived by a ballot recount that turned his five-vote loss into a 15-vote victory. But then he lost Tuesday to Ken Prince - a former councilman who served one four-year term that ended in 1984.
Also in 1989, Stan Price lost to incumbent John B. Winder. But Price's second try netted him one of two at-large council seats Tuesday.
Doug Thompson tried unsuccessfully to unseat incumbent Bryant Anderson in the 1989 race. He tried again this year, for an at-large seat, but placed third, behind Price, finishing ahead of Planning Commission member John R. Milano.