Northern Utah voters Tuesday decided a Davis County incumbent and two candidates seeking their first elected seat will represent local Republicans in a trio of legislative races this fall.
Up for voting in parts of Davis and Salt Lake counties were GOP candidate positions in Utah House Districts 15, 19 and 20; plus two, nonpartisan Davis School board seats.
A small turnout in primary voting at nearly 17 percent in Davis County unofficially resulted in incumbent Rep. Becky Edwards, of District 20, being the final GOP candidate.
"We are very pleased. I think we ran a positive campaign," she said Tuesday night.
Edwards won, capturing 57.7 percent of the vote in Davis County, to 42.3 percent garnered by D.J. Schanz, a 35-year-old North Salt Lake resident and small-business owner.
Edwards, 49, is a 17-year resident of North Salt Lake and is finishing her first term in the House.
House District 20 covers parts of North Salt Lake, Bountiful and four precincts in northern Salt Lake County.
Edwards faces Robert Moultrie, of the Constitution Party, and William Ward, of the Democratic Party, in the Nov. 2 general election.
In House District 15, voters chose Brad Wilson by a vote of 54.8 percent to 45.1 percent over Jory Francis, to represent the GOP on the ballot. The seat opened this year when Rep. Doug Aagard, of Kaysville, decided to not run for re-election.
Wilson, 41, of Kaysville, is president of Destination Homes.
Francis is a 35-year-old Layton businessman who owns Yusef Manufacturing Laboratories, a personal-care company.
"It feels good. Jory was a gentleman and we ran a clean race. But we have another race in six months," said Wilson.
Wilson faces Democrat Sherri Tatton in the November general election.
Despite Ben Horsley being former Davis County GOP chairman and receiving the endorsement of Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, it was business owner Jim Nielson, of Bountiful, who grabbed an early lead Tuesday and never relinquished it in becoming the Republic nominee for House Seat 19.
Nielson garnered more than 59 percent of the vote. The 51-year-old architect will now face Democrat Richard Watson and Reldon C. White of the Constitution Party in the Nov. 2 general election.
"I'm exhilarated. I owe more thanks than I can express to everyone that made this victory possible," said Nielson, who was cautiously optimistic heading into the night.
"It was a convincing win. (Horsley) waged a vigorous campaign. He came on strong at the end and made this a horse race," Nielson said.
District 19, serving north Bountiful and a small area of Woods Cross, is currently held by Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful.
Allen is running for lieutenant governor on the Democratic gubernatorial ticket with Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon.
Nielson and Horsley, 33, going into their respective campaigns, each envisioned education and the economy being related issues the Legislature would be grappling with come January.
Horsley, who bested Nielson in the GOP convention by a 52-to-48 percent delegate vote, said he did not see himself as the favorite based on being outspent by about a 4-to-1 margin in the contest.
In the nonpartisan Davis School Board races, five candidates were eliminated Tuesday from the District 3 race, with Larry Jensen and Peter Cannon finishing one-two in advancing to the general election. The District 3 seat represents the central portion of the county.
In the Davis School Board District 6 race, Gerald Hasty was eliminated, with challenger Michael Sperry and incumbent board member L. Burke Larsen of Syracuse advancing to the general election. District 6 serves north Davis County.
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