This city probably hasn't had two more respected or qualified mayoral candidates in recent history than Jerry W. Stevenson and Lyndia Graham.

The two received a rousing standing ovation from a crowd of some 200 people gathered in City Hall when they embraced each other Tuesday evening.A few minutes later when the final two districts' tallies were in, the incumbent Stevenson had outdistanced City Councilwoman Graham by 435 votes to win his second term as Layton's mayor.

In the City Council race for two open seats, incumbent Stuart Adams was a decisive winner, while Renny Knowlton - making his third attempt - took the second position.

Stevenson, 50, said his wife, Susan, plus his election committee were instrumental in his victory that totaled 3,151 votes to Graham's 2,716.

"Lyndia is a vicious campaigner," Stevenson said. "She's a great lady. I'll miss working with her."

Graham's council term expires Dec. 31, and Stevenson said she's been a great asset to the city. He said it was very complementary that he and Graham ran such a clean campaign.

He said the many good things the city has accomplished during the past four years speaks for itself. Stevenson is a business partner in Layton's J&J Nursery and Garden Center.

Being very philosophical about her defeat, Graham said she always felt she would win - become Layton's first woman mayor - if it was meant to be.

However, she said there are phases in life and now she has to move to the next one - whatever that is.

"There's something out there," she said. "I'm always excited about the next phase. Now I can go home and sleep."

Graham, 51, a kitchen and bath designer, said other than the regret of her current council term coming to an end, she hopes her many hard-working volunteers don't get discouraged about her campaign loss.

"My saddest feeling is to my volunteers."

She doesn't rule out another run for some future political office, but said it looks doubtful - at least right now.

Adams, the expected top council vote getter, lived up to that billing with 3,328 votes to Knowlton's 2,988. Newcomer Chad Harward was a close third at 2,924, and Richard G. KcKenzie, a former Layton mayor, was fourth at 2,109.

"I'm happy," Adams said after securing the victory.

He said it's amazing to have such qualified candidates in one election.

Adams said he didn't do a lot of door-to-door campaigning this time around, but did work hard on putting up a lot of signs throughout the city.

For Knowlton, the victory was especially sweet. He lost out on a council seat two years ago by just 11 votes.

"Whew," he said. "It's a lot more fun to come out on top."

Knowlton said the entire election process has been a struggle because in a city running as well as Layton, there are few campaign issues.

Almost 22 percent of Layton's registered voters turned out, more than double the 9 percent that came out in last month's primary.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Mayor beats odds

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The Layton mayoral victory by Jerry W. Stevenson Tuesday marks the first time in 16 years that an incumbent has held onto that city's top position.

The last time it happened was in the fall of 1981 when Lewis W. Shields was elected to his fourth term.

More recently, Golden C. Sill, Richard G. McKenzie and James Layton all failed in their attempts for another term as Layton mayor.

In fact, other than Shields, Stevenson is the only other one of Layton's 11 different mayors to be elected to a second term. (However, Sill was appointed to two different two-year terms as Layton's mayor.)

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