Caldwell elected to 3rd term as Ogden City mayor, according to early results
Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell reacts as results roll in during the 2019 general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell hugs his daughter, Chloe Caldwell, as results roll in for the mayoral race during the 2019 general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell hugs his daughter, Chloe Caldwell, as results roll in for the mayoral race during the 2019 general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
Angel Castillo speaks to supporters as she waits for results in the Ogden mayoral race on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
Angel Castillo speaks to supporters as she waits for results in the Ogden mayoral race on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
Angel Castillo speaks to supporters as she waits for results in the Ogden mayoral race on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
Angel Castillo speaks to supporters as she waits for results in the Ogden mayoral race on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.
OGDEN — Mike Caldwell will likely serve a third term as Ogden City mayor.
Initial ballot counts posted Tuesday evening of unofficial results show the incumbent defeating challenger Angel Castillo by taking home more than 58% of the nearly 10,000 ballots cast.
Caldwell’s has been a hard fought battle against Castillo, a political newcomer in Weber County. She moved to Ogden from Los Angeles nearly two years ago and during most of that time has served on the Ogden Planning Commission.
Both candidates have been campaigning since early in the year and during the past four months have slugged it out in numerous public debates and community discussions.
“I appreciate anybody that’s willing to show up and work that hard,” Caldwell said of Castillo. “I’ve said that from the beginning — the more people you have involved that are passionate about Ogden, the better it is for the city.”
Caldwell was first elected mayor in 2012 and was reelected in 2016. His latest victory will carry his stint at the top of Ogden City through 2024.
During the campaign, the mayor has said economic development has been at the forefront of his agenda for much of his tenure, an effort that will continue with his reelection. The mayor said seeing the Ogden Bus Rapid Transit project through, as well as several city-initiated redevelopment sites in places like west Ogden and on the city municipal block, are important issues to tackle.
“We want to see some of these developments that we’ve been working on for almost a decade come to fruition,” Caldwell said Tuesday night.
Caldwell has also spoke of the need to retain veteran members of the city’s police and fire departments, an issue that still plagues the city despite a series of recent pay hikes to the departments, which were funded by tax increases. He said he’ll continue to work to find solutions for that issue and noted he was “extremely proud” of recent crime reduction achieved by the police department.
The mayor said much of his energy during his first eight years in office was directed toward building relationships with key governmental players along the Wasatch Front — another effort Caldwell says he’ll double down on. Caldwell has served on several state boards, including a stint as chair of the Wasatch Front Regional Council.
“I don’t think Ogden had much of a voice in some of those circles,” the mayor said. “We want to continue to build those relationships to help our community.”
Ogden’s City Council will remain the same, as none of the incumbents up for election this year had challengers. Ogden Councilman Luis Lopez was facing a challenger in Anna Davidson, who runs a restaurant on Historic 25th Street. But before the August primaries, Davidson withdrew from the at-large “C” seat race.
The two other incumbent councilmen up for election this year, Ben Nadolski in District 4 and Richard Hyer in District 2, did not have any challengers.