American Fork Election Results (updated)

Here’s an updated report of primary election results, based on updated counts released this afternoon. There will be further updates — by state law, on Tuesdays and Fridays — before the official canvass on Tuesday, August 29, but the votes added in subsequent updates will likely be far fewer.

The big news for American Fork voters is that the outcome of the city council race changed. Incumbent city councilor Jeff Shorter moved into fourth place ahead of Ernie John by 27 votes, pushing the latter out of the general election, if the result holds. This isn’t a big surprise; in Tuesday’s results the margin was a mere nine votes.

American Fork Mayor

We reported Brad Frost’s share of the mayoral vote as 79.8% after Tuesday. It increased to 81.3% in today’s report. However, the result is unchanged: Brad Frost and Carlton Bowen advance to the general election.

Brad Frost

• Brad Frost: 2,514 votes, or 81.3%
• Carlton Bowen: 465 votes, or 15.0%
• Daniel Copper: 69 voters, or 3.7%

Looking ahead, given the 66-point margin, it’s hard to imagine Brad Frost not winning the general election in November. But as they say, that’s why we play the game. In some local electoral systems, finishing with more than 50 percent of the vote would be an immediate victory, and the general election would be avoided altogether in this race, but it doesn’t work that way in American Fork.

(Note that there is an arithmetic error or two in the county’s results sheet. Here I have assumed that the vote counts for each candidate are correct  and have used the sum of their votes, not the indicated total, in calculating percentages.)

American Fork City Council

As many votes as remained to be counted after Tuesday — as we correctly supposed — it’s no surprise than a nine-vote margin reversed itself and then some. I’ll be quite surprised if subsequent updates change the overall result, because the margin is larger and presumably fewer votes will be added.

At this point, it’s safe to assume that Councilman Jeff Shorter (who went from first-out to last-in) will join Barbara Christiansen, Staci Carroll, and Kyle Barratt on the November general election ballot.

Barbara Christiansen

Staci Carroll

Kyle Barratt

Jeff Shorter

• Barbara Christiansen, 1,476 votes or 46.8% (percentage based on ballots cast, not total city council votes)
• Staci Carroll, 1,187 votes or 37.4%
• Kyle Barratt, 718 votes or 22.6%
• Jeffrey Shorter, 693 votes or 21.8%
• Ernie John, 666 votes or 21.0%
• Doug Richards, 412 votes or 13.0%
• Aaron Clegg, 371 votes or 11.7%
• Bill Houlin (withdrew)

Going into the general election, which will fill two available council seats, Barbara Christiansen has a 24-point lead on third-place finisher Kyle Barratt (with Jeff Shorter only a hair behind), and Staci Carroll leads Barratt by almost 15 points. These leads may not be insurmountable, but they’re a good head start for the frontrunners and a significant challenge for the other two.

If you want to watch the updates yourself or see results from elsewhere in Utah County, they’re at the county website.

Turnout

At the moment, turnout stands at 23.5 percent — fairly good for a local primary.

Third Congressional District Republican Primary

Between election night and this afternoon, Chris Herrod closed the margin on John Curtis from 11.7 percent to 11.1 percent, and Tanner Ainge fell back slightly. But the result is unchanged.

Now it’s time for Chris Herrod to concede. John Curtis advances to the general election, where he will be the prohibitive favorite over Democrat Kathie Allen and United Utah Party candidate Jim Bennett — both of whom would likely have fared bettered against Herrod or Ainge, who are well to the right of Curtis.

• John Curtis, 29,733 votes or 43.3%
• Chris Herrod, 22,157 votes or 32.2%
• Tanner Ainge, 16,831 votes or 24.5%

If you want to want updates yourself, get them here. Utah County reports only votes from Utah County.

Hereafter, I’ll update results only if the winners change. On we go to the general election.

Be sure to thank a candidate you know, and congratulations to the winners.