MURRAY — Salt Lake County Republicans voted down two incumbents at their convention at Cottonwood High School Saturday.
Rep. Fred Cox, R-West Valley City, and Rep. Earl Tanner, R-West Jordan, failed to win enough delegates for their party's nomination. Since neither of them collected signatures — a new pathway to the primary ballot under SB54 — their bids for re-election ended Saturday.
Instead, former West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder and Adam Gardiner, a former aide to Rep. Rob Bishop, took the places of Cox and Tanner for the Republican nominee heading into the 2016 general election. Winder beat Cox 62 percent to 38 percent and Tanner was defeated 15 percent to 85 percent.
In a high-profile Senate race, incumbent Rep. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, beat Rep. Rich Cunningham, with 60.11 percent of delegate votes to Cunningham's 39.88 percent. A third candidate, Aleta Taylor, didn't qualify past the delegate's first round of balloting.
Normally, the party disqualifies candidates who don't win at least 40 percent of convention delegates, but Cunningham will still face Fillmore in the primaries because he gathered the required 2,000 signatures under SB54. Cunningham's opponents attacked him for gathering signatures, since he and the party has opposed SB54.
The Cox-Winder, House District 30 race was the House's hottest contest. Winder beat Cox on a platform that West Valley City needs a stronger representative, since Cox had a lower record of bills passed than others.
"I'm concerned about our area. We are the second largest city in the state and we don't always punch at our weight in the Legislature," Winder told delegates. "It seems other communities get what they want far more often."
But Cox said he passed 12 bills over his time in office, but he said he doesn't run easy bills.
"This is not a race of who can pass the most bills," Cox said. "But I have been specifically asked by people where no one else will even touch a bill, to run those bills."
Winder experienced some controversy when he was mayor after he admitted he wrote newspaper articles about West Valley City under the pseudonym Richard Burwash.
When asked if that might hurt his chances in the general election, Winder said: "Our residents know I care passionately about this area. They know I learn from mistakes and will continue to fight for this area."
He added that voters will remember his positive accomplishments as mayor, like leading public safety reform and replacing the West Valley police chief amid controversy.
Gardiner's message calling for a stronger West Jordan representative also resonated with delegates. "For too long the west side of the Salt Lake Valley has been neglected by our state Legislature," he wrote on his website.
After losing the nomination, Tanner acknowledged that some delegates had complained that he hadn't been spending enough time communicating with them.
"I do send out emails and newsletters, but the fact is, if you're going to have another business — in my case, I'm a lawyer — you can't spend all your time knocking on people's doors," Tanner said. "I don't feel badly about it. I think I gave what I could afford, and they've got a guy who will treat them well."
Meanwhile, five other incumbents won more than 60 percent of delegate support and will continue on to the general election: Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton; Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan; Bruce Cutler, R-Murray; John Knotwell, R-Herriman; and Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville.
In two other races, delegates sent new candidates to compete at the primaries.
In House District 22 — currently occupied by Democrat Rep. Susan Duckworth — Jamie White and Apollo Pazell will compete to be the Republican candidate. White gained 54.5 percent of delegate support while Pazell won 45.4 precent. Erin Pugmire, who also competed for the nomination, didn't qualify past the first round of balloting.
In House District 34, being left vacant by outgoing Rep. Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, delegates' votes were split between McCade Jensen and Jack Castellanos, 56.3 percent to 43.6 percent, meaning both will advance to the primaries.
As for Cunningham's empty House District 50 seat, a new Republican was nominated to take his place in the general election: Susan Pulsipher, who beat her GOP opponent Louis Gary Welch 80.6 percent to 19.3 percent.
A new face — Joseph Breault — beat his opponent Michael Morrise 87 percent to 13 percent to be the Republican nominee to take on the House District 40 incumbent, Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Millcreek.
Nearly 2,200 out of Salt Lake County GOP's 2,600 delegates turned out to vote at Saturday's convention. The party's chairwoman, Suzanne Mulet said she was thrilled with the turnout.
"I am pleased beyond pleased at the attendance and the engagement and the involvement of our delegates," she said. "There were some interesting races and some turned out different than I thought. I'm looking forward to our primary races, so it's going to be exciting."
For a complete breakdown of results, visit the Salt Lake County GOP's website at www.slcogop.com.
Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com, Twitter: KatieMcKellar1