Update on Utah mayoral races: Provo’s mayoral race sees a switch in who’s leading

This year’s Election Day in Utah featured a number of mayoral races around the state, and preliminary results of those races continue to be updated with some incumbents trailing newcomers, several tight races that can’t yet be called and one city about to elect its first female mayor.

In Provo, the lead has switched since the first preliminary results were released Tuesday evening, with thousands of ballots still toe be counted.

Voter turnout around the state was about 30% according to the state’s election website, vote.ut.gov, with the highest voter turnouts in Piute, Grand and Garfield counties all having over 60%.

The lowest voter turnouts were in Salt Lake and Utah counties which saw turnouts of 22.94% and 27.77%, respectively.

Here is a look at the preliminary results of notable mayoral elections around Utah:

Provo mayoral race sees a change in who’s leading

Mayor Michelle Kaufusi has been leading the city of Provo since 2018 and ran for a third term this year, facing off against former Utah Rep. Marsha Judkins.

Late Tuesday night, Kaufusi had a narrow lead but the lead has since changed.

As of Wednesday evening at 7:55 p.m., unofficial results show Judkins was leading the race by about 60 votes. That update showed Judkins having 7,153 votes and Kaufusi having 7,094 votes.

After Wednesday’s update, Utah County Commissioner Skyler Beltran said in a Facebook post that there were still more than 20,000 ballots that needed to be processed.

The results are still unofficial and the race continues to be too close to call.

Park City mayoral race remains tight

Late Tuesday, Ryan Dickey was ahead in the Park City mayoral race by just two votes. Dickey had 1,487 votes and Jack Rubin had 1,485 votes.

The Summit County Clerk’s Office released updated numbers shortly after 3 p.m. on Wednesday showing that Dickey had gained a slightly larger lead in the race.

In the updated numbers, Dickey has 1,701 votes compared to Rubin’s 1,690 votes. It is still a tight race but a bigger difference than Tuesday night.

According to KPCW, both candidates have refrained from commenting on the race until there is more information.

Utah County mayoral races

In the Orem mayoral race, incumbent David Young is currently behind his opponent Karen McCandless. As of Wednesday night, McCandless was leading with 8,078 votes compared to Young’s 7,467 votes.

McCandless was the CEO of Community Action Services and Food Bank until she retired this summer. She had previously served on Orem’s City Council from 2001 to 2014. Young has been the city’s mayor since 2022 and is running for a second term.

Other mayoral races in Utah County currently stand as of the latest update on Wednesday night:

• Eagle Mountain: Jared Gray ahead with 52.3% of the vote
• Lehi: Paul Binns ahead with 53.08% of the vote
• Pleasant Grove: Eric Jensen ahead with 56.34% of the vote
• American Fork: Brad Frost ahead with 78.08% of the vote
• Spanish Fork: Mike Mendenhall ahead with 59.16% of the vote
• Springville: Matt Packard ahead with 84.87% of the vote

Salt Lake County mayoral races

One of the competitive races in Salt Lake County was the race to be Sandy mayor.

The city’s incumbent mayor, Monica Zoltanski, ran against Cyndi Sharkey. As of Wednesday afternoon, Zoltanski was leading with 59.21% of the vote over Sharkey.

If the official results of the election continue on this same path, this will be Zoltanski’s second term as mayor. She also served for two years on the city council.

Other mayoral races in Salt Lake County as of the latest update on Wednesday afternoon:

• Bluffdale: Natalie Hall ahead with 50.29% of the vote
• Cottonwood Heights: Gay Lynn Bennion ahead with 56.45% of the vote
• Draper: Troy Walker ahead with 73.10% of the vote
• Herriman: Lorin Palmer ahead with 73.87% of the vote
• Holladay: Paul Fotheringham ahead with 56.81% of the vote
• Kearns: Michael Jesse Xon Valdez ahead with 52.04% of the vote
• Midvale: Dustin Gettel ahead with 62% of the vote
• Murray: Brett A. Hales ahead with 62.53% of the vote
• Riverton: Tish Buroker ahead with 69.02% of the vote
• South Jordan: Dawn Ramsey ahead with 82.75% of the vote
• South Salt Lake: Cherie Wood ahead with 65.79% of the vote
• West Valley: Karen Lang ahead with 76.32% of the vote

Weber County mayoral races

Here’s a look at the preliminary results of notable mayoral races in Weber County:

• Farr West: David Bolos ahead with 58.6% of the vote
• North Ogden: Ryan Barker ahead with 59.65% of the vote
• Ogden Valley: Janet Wampler ahead with 57.77% of the vote
• Plain City: Phil Meyer ahead with 62.47% of the vote
• Pleasant View: Steven Gibson ahead with 55.43% of the vote
• Roy: Ann Marinda Jackson ahead with 52.41% of the vote

Davis County mayoral races

Here’s a look at the preliminary results of notable mayoral races in Davis County:

• Clearfield: Mark Shepherd ahead with 74.11% of the vote
• Farmington: Brett Anderson ahead with 85.92% of the vote
• Kaysville: Tamara (Tami) Tran ahead with 75.14% of the vote
• Layton: Joy Petro ahead with 69.89% of the vote
• North Salt Lake: Brian Horrocks ahead with 75.85% of the vote
• Syracuse: Dave Maughan ahead with 69.47% of the vote

Other notable mayoral races in Utah

Grantsville, in Tooele County, is set to elect its first female mayor. There was no incumbent on the ballot for the city’s mayoral race between councilwomen Heidi B. Hammond and Jolene Jenkins.

Whichever candidate wins will become the 158-year-old city’s first female mayor.

As of the latest count on Wednesday afternoon, Hammond had a strong lead over Jenkins, with 67% of the vote in the unofficial results, compared to Jenkins’ 32.61%.

In both Hurricane and St. George, the incumbent is trailing behind their opponents. In Hurricane’s mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Nanette Billings is behind her opponent Clark Fawcett, who currently has 67.99% of the vote.

In the St. George mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Michelle Randall, who is looking for a second term, is trailing behind Jimmie B. Hughes, who currently has 54.85% of the vote.

Santa Clara voters are electing a new mayor for the first time in almost two decades since incumbent Rick Rosenburg did not seek reelection. Jarett Waite is currently leading Ben Shakespeare with 54.93% of the vote.

Here’s a look at the preliminary results of some of the other mayoral races around the state:

• Logan: Mark Anderson ahead with 59.12% of the vote
• Heber: Heidi Franco ahead with 53.26% of the vote
• Tooele: Maresa Tonioli Manzione ahead with 57.81% of the vote

More results online

Visit the state municipal elections website to see the results of all the municipal elections across the state: https://electionresults.utah.gov/results/public/Utah/elections/general11042025