Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A Quick Look at Election Results
Results of American Fork races and a few other races of interest in Utah and elsewhere.
American Fork
These are unofficial results from American Fork's mayoral and city council elections.
- Mayor: Challenger James Hadfield defeated incumbent Mayor Heber Thompson. Hadfield received approximately 61.4 percent of the vote to Thompson's 38.6 percent. Hadfield won six of eight consolidated precincts.
- City Council: Voters could choose two candidates from a field of four, for the two at-large seats available. Incumbents Heidi Rodeback (32.8 percent) and Dale Gunther (28.6 percent) held their seats, defeating challengers Marc Ellison (25.4 percent) and Jess Green (13.2 percent). Rodeback actually had more votes (2295) than Hadfield (2194). Rodeback won six of eight consolidated precincts and finished second in the other two. Gunther won two precincts, finished second in one, and finished third in five. Ellison finished second in five precincts and third in three.
- Turnout was approximately 25.5 percent, which isn't bad for an off-year, local-only election.
- About ten percent of the votes were cast in early voting.
- 34 provisional ballots were filled out; these will be judged within the next few days. A few absentee ballots are probably still outstanding, and will also be counted, if postmarked no later than yesterday and received before noon on Tuesday, November 10. The smaller margin between a winner and a loser is 224 votes, so provisional and absentee ballots will not change the basic results.
Elsewhere in Utah
- The latest numbers I can find for the Highland mayoral race only have about half of the precincts reporting, but Mayor Franson trails challenger Lynn Ritchie by more than a two-to-one margin, which will be difficult to overcome. It would have been interesting to see how that race would have played out without the sleazy attacks on Franson, but that's politics, I guess.
- Utah County Republican Party Chair Taylor Oldroyd and his claque have taken down Provo city council veteran Cindy Richards in Provo's District 5. Challenger Sterling Beck won by about a 56 to 44 percent margin, proving that pugilism still works in the south half of Utah County, too.
- In the Provo mayoral race, John Curtis has beaten Steve Clark by a margin of about 53 to 47 percent.
Elsewhere in the United States
- In the New Jersey gubernatorial race, Republican Chris Christie defeated incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine by a 49 to 45 percent margin. This is a significant gain for Republicans in what is traditionally a heavily Democratic state.
- In the Virginia gubernatorial race, Republican Robert McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds by about a 59 to 41 percent margin. This is no surprise, but McDonnell is the first Republican to be elected governor of Virginia since 1993 or so. It's a good gain for the Republicans.
- In New York's 23rd US House of Representatives District, in a special election to fill a midterm vacancy, Democrat Bill Owens has beaten Conservative Doug Hoffman by about a 49 to 45 percent margin, in a race where, just last weekend, Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava withdrew and endorsed the Democrat.
- In another special House election in California's 10th District, Democrat John Garamandi defeated Republican David Harmer by about a 55 to 40 percent margin, surprising no one, I think.
- Maine voters have rejected a law legalizing gay marriage, which their legislature approved and their governor signed, by about a 53 to 47 percent margin. At the same time, they voted to expand the legal use of medical marijuana by about 59 to 41 percent.
- Washington voters (that's the state) have approved a law legalizing domestic partnerships (but overtly saying they are not marriages) by about a 51 to 49 percent margin.
How's this for a final thought? Let's have heartfelt thank-you and a round of applause for all those election workers who worked a long day today to help the electoral process work smoothly. It's a big deal.
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Copyright 2009 by David Rodeback.
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