Is it just me, or has Election Day lost most of its sizzle, what with the meaningful vote count continuing for days thereafter — technically, weeks — and some doubt as to many of the results for a while? I used to jump in to report election results on Election Night, but now, well, it’s Friday, as you see. Here are some primary results.
Continue readingCategory: Election Results
I asked members of the American Fork City Council what they look for in city council candidates. I thought their view from the inside might be instructive. I also asked them about the work load, because conscientious prospective candidates want to know what it will take to do the job right.
Three of five city council seats are up for election in 2023, but only one incumbent, Clark Taylor, told me he’s running. The other two, Rob Shelton and Kevin Barnes, have publicly announced their intention not to run — Councilman Shelton after three terms in office and Councilman Barnes after two terms.
(Of course, until June 1, there are no candidates, and we’ll only know for sure who’s in and who’s out after June 7, the end of the filing period.)
What to Look for in a Candidate
All five city council members sounded common themes. Where their own votes in a city council election are concerned, they’re looking for:
- men and women who work well with others, and who can disagree without being disagreeable;
- people who already have a resume of civic engagement — not necessarily at the City, but if it is at the City, service on at least one committee or coaching in the recreation programs, working in the arts, etc.;
- candidates who know about City government and don’t just assume that all the stereotypes and talking points from national and state government apply;
- overlapping with the last two, candidates who are energized by more than a single issue, who won’t check out once they’ve accomplished — or failed to accomplish — the thing that motivated them; and
- the words good and honest came up almost as often as work.
It will be a couple of weeks before the numbers are official — the key word is canvass — but even last-minute mail-in ballots won’t change the election results in American Fork’s 2021 municipal election.
Mayor Brad Frost won a second term, defeating challenger Tim Holley with about 79% of the vote (based on Thursday’s updated count).
The three-way race for two city council seats saw incumbents Staci Valentine and Ryan Hunter win with about 44% of the vote each, while challenger Carissa George finished with about 13%. (Numbers are rounded.) Valentine won a second term; Hunter won his first full term, after his appointment earlier this year to finish the remaining months of the late Barbara Christiansen’s term.
The PARC tax renewal passed with about 75% of the vote. By law, it will be up for a vote again in about ten years.
Congratulations to the winners. Heartfelt thanks to all who ran — and to all the voters who make the effort to cast informed votes. I don’t have turnout data yet, but at least 4,900 voters’ votes have been counted so far.
[Later note: Turnout in American Fork was 37.9 percent, according to county results (a CSV file). That’s excellent for a local election — and even more so when you consider that a significant percentage of voter registration records are for people who no longer live in American Fork. Well done, voters! That’s up from 34.6 percent in 2019 (CSV) and 31.7 percent in 2017 (PDF) — a happy trend.]
Thanks also to the thousands of people who spent some time at afelection.info during this election season. We hope it helped. As we like to say, always #learnBEFOREyouvote.
Here’s a link to the latest unofficial results from Utah County (PDF). We’ll add turnout information here when it’s available.
A final note: American Fork’s races weren’t close, but we don’t have to look far for one that is. In Highland’s city council race, where four candidates vie for two seats, the difference between winning and losing so far is a mere 20 votes. The result could easily change as last-minute votes are counted. For now, Scott Smith is in second place, narrowly leading Jerry Abbott.
If you’ve been waiting patiently, watching for American Fork election results to appear here, I apologize. Election Day was very nearly two weeks ago, and the results in American Fork weren’t close enough to worry that they might change as the last mail-in and provisional votes trickle in, until the official canvass. I was away on business that whole week, and very busy indeed, but I was home last week. I shouldn’t have needed all week to dig out, right?
Maybe it’s an age thing. Maybe it’s that the concept of Election Day, with its expected results, has become a fuzzy concept for me, with the advent of mail-in ballots and slower counts. In any case, here we are, with some results which are still unofficial, but final enough in our own races.
Continue reading
New School Board Results (Still Not Final)
Remember how I said Tuesday night that there were two races to watch, because — mostly thanks to mail-in ballots — the school board results were too close to call? Utah County just released updated vote counts, and the second (prospective) winner in each race has changed. Continue reading
A look at preliminary primary election results at vote.utah.gov and utahcounty.gov reveals a lot of lopsided margins, but also a pair of races that may be too close to call for a week or two. Here’s a quick look at the races I mentioned a few days ago in my idiosyncratic little election guide. Continue reading
Note: These election results are updated as of Tuesday, November 21. These are the official results. The turnout is 40.34% in American Fork, which is excellent for an off-year election.
If you want to want to see the sources yourself, here are links to reports for the congressional race and the American Fork municipal races.
US House of Representatives, District 3
Not including three third-party (fourth-party?) and unaffiliated candidates who, combined, got 7.1% of the vote:
- John Curtis (Republican)
- Final (Nov 21): 85,739 votes or 58.0%
- Nov 7: 62,498 votes or 57.6%
- Kathie Allen (Democrat)
- Final (Nov 21): 37,778 votes or 25.6%
- Nov 7: 29,449 votes or 27.1%
- Jim Bennett (United Utah)
- Final (Nov 21): 13,745 votes or 9.3%
- Nov 7: 9,641 votes or 8.9%
John Curtis is the winner.
American Fork Mayor
For a four-year term . . .
- Brad Frost —
- Final (November 21): 3,935 votes or 77.0%
- Nov 7: 2,885 votes or 77.7%
- Corrected — I previously misreported the vote count, but not the percentage.
- Carlton Bowen —
- Final (Nov 21): 1,177 votes or 23.0%
- Nov 7: 828 votes or 22.3%
Brad Frost
Brad Frost wins. When his seat is vacated at the first of the year, the city council will choose someone to fill the rest of his term.
American Fork City Council
Two seats, two winners.
- Barbara Christiansen
- Final (Nov 21): 3,228 votes or 34.6%
- Nov 7: 2,368 votes or 35.0%
- Staci Carroll
- Final (Nov 21): 2,661 votes or 28.5%
- Nov 7: 1,898 votes or 28.0%
- Kyle Barratt
- Final (Nov 21): 1,905 votes or 20.4%
- Nov 7: 1,409 votes or 20.8%
- Jeffrey Shorter (incumbent)
- Final (Nov 21): 1,532 votes or 16.4%
- Nov 7: 1,094 votes or 16.2%
Staci Carroll
Barbara Christiansen and Staci Carroll win four-year terms on the city council.
Barbara Christiansen
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to all the candidates. This doesn’t work if good people don’t run.
Finally, thanks to all 2,819 of you who visited afelection.info during this election cycle.
I’ve been waiting to post local election results, hoping for numbers more recent than 10:09 p.m. on election night — given that most of the ballots were mailed, and a lot of them presumably didn’t arrive in time to be counted on Tuesday evening.
I finally called the county clerk’s office, where I learned that state law requires them to publish updated numbers on Fridays and Tuesdays, until the final canvass two weeks after election day. They said they might publish an update sooner, but so far they haven’t.
So without waiting further, let’s see what we know. Continue reading
- AF Election Update: Austin Duke withdraws, endorses Taylor, John, Holley
Today American Fork City Council candidate Austin Duke withdrew his name from the November general election ballot, citing "unforeseen personal and family considerations" and endorsing Clark Taylor, Ernie John, and Tim Holley. - 2023 American Fork Primary Results
2023 primary results aren't final yet, but the outcome is clear enough in the race for American Fork City Council. - Guest Post: Bryce Shelley on 2023 American Fork City Council Candidates
Bryce Shelley's thoughts about 2023 American Fork City Council candidates. How he's voting and why. - David’s 2023 Primary Election Votes — Who and Why
David Rodeback considers nine candidates in the 2023 primary election for American Fork City Council and explains his votes. - Q&A with American Fork City Council Candidate Ken Sumsion
American Fork City Council candidate Ken Sumsion responds to questions about himself, the City, and current issues.
Hi, when you are going to finish the 200w road next Shelly Elementary school ? It is the bigger elementary…
Bryce this was very well written, in my opinion. It was very concise and to the point. I totally agree…
Thank you, David, for looking into this and for responding to my question.
I've heard some discussion that part of the funding for the project might come from federal grants under the IRA,…
I am really confused. The federal government, through the Infrastructure Act, was suppose to give each state the money to…