Salt Lake County voters seem to be happy with their new form of government.
Two years after voting in a new County Council, voters have decided to retain three incumbents and keep an open fourth seat under Republican control.
Democrat Randy Horiuchi, who spent approximately $75,000 in his pursuit of a second term, won the at-large A district with 49 percent of the vote. He defeated Diana Lee Hirschi, Green party, and Republican Bruce Reading, who spent about $55,000, including $33,000 of his own money, trying to unseat the incumbent.
Reading received 44 percent of the vote, while Hirschi got 6 percent of the vote, most of which likely came from would-be Horiuchi supporters. After the final tally, she said she was "very pleased" with the amount of support she received at the polls.
"I talked to so many people who are sick of their politics controlled by big business," Hirschi said. "I think people are tired of it and want a change. This is an indicator."
Horiuchi and Reading were unavailable for comment.
Republican David Wilde, the council chairman, defeated Democrat Manuel Romero in District 3. Wilde received 58 percent of the vote.
Democrat Joe Hatch also was elected to a second term, defeating Republican Sean Thomas by an almost 2-to-1 margin in District 1, where he got 59 percent of the vote to Thomas' 32 percent. Green Party candidate Patrick Beecroft also made a strong showing for a third-party candidate, with 8 percent.
District 5 was the only race without an incumbent after Winston Wilkinson decided to run for the Republican nomination for 2nd Congressional District. The voters in the heavily Republican southeast district easily kept it in Republican hands, electing Cortlund Ashton over Democrat Elizabeth Romero. Ashton received 64 percent of the vote.
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com