Weber County general election races come into focus after primary

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner
Election workers process ballots at the Weber County Elections Office in Ogden on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. From left are Amy Lancaster, Lori Lovelady, Stacy Palen and Colleen Burdess.OGDEN — The dust has largely settled from primary voting, which culminated Tuesday, and the general election match-ups are coming into focus.
Results from voting in Weber County won’t become official until the canvass of the votes by Weber County officials on July 12. But the ballots have all been counted, by and large, and the primary winners for local races have been determined.
In the end, 29,333 Weber County voters cast primary ballots. Coming from a pool of around 67,000 eligible primary voters, that amounts to turnout of nearly 44%. “Things were very smooth,” said Lauren Shafer, who heads the Weber County Election Office.
Here’s a rundown of the races pertinent to Weber County voters that will appear on the November ballot:
- U.S. Sen. Mike Lee beat out two GOP challengers in primary voting and he’ll face independent Evan McMullin, backed by the Utah Democratic Party, in November.
- U.S. Rep. Blake Moore beat out two challengers in the Republican primary for the 1st District U.S. House seat. He’ll face Democrat Rick Jones in the fall.
- Utah Sen. Ann Millner defeated Doug Durbano in the primary for the District 5 seat and will now face Democrat Michael Blodgett.
- Jason Kyle defeated Kimberly Cozzens in the GOP primary for the District 8 Utah House seat and will face Democrat Monica Hall in the fall. GOPer Steve Waldrip now holds the post but dropped out of the race.
- Utah Rep. Cal Musselman, a Republican, will face Democrat Neil Hansen and Libertarian Jacob Johnson in the fall in the race for the District 9 Utah House seat. That race wasn’t on the primary ballot because none of the party nominations were contested.
- Rep. Rosemary Lesser, a Democrat, will face Republican Jill Koford in the fall for the District 10 Utah House seat. Koford defeated Lorraine Brown in primary balloting.
- Republican Joseph Kerry and Democrat Adi Finsen will face off for the District 2 spot on the Utah State School Board. Scott Hansen now holds the post but was defeated by Kerry in the Weber County Republican Party nominating convention.
The races for four Utah House seats in Weber County are uncontested:
- In the race for the District 11 Utah House seat, Katy Hall defeated Kelly Miles, the incumbent, in the GOP primary but no other parties have put up candidates in the contest, leaving her alone on the general election ballot.
- District 6 Rep. Matt Gwynn, District 7 Rep. Ryan Wilcox and District 12 Rep. Mike Schultz, all GOPers, didn’t face primary opponents and no other parties have put up candidates for the posts.
Write-in candidates could theoretically emerge to take on any of the hopefuls and those choosing to go that route have until Sept. 6 to file their intent to run, Shafer said. Whatever the case, write-in candidates typically have a tough go of it.
Now for the county races:
- Weber County Commissioner Gage Froerer will face Democrat John Thompson for the seat A post on the body.
- Republican Sharon Bolos and Libertarian Brian Rowley will face off for seat B on the Weber County Commission, now held by Scott Jenkins, who’s not running again.
- Alone on the ballot, notwithstanding the possibility of a write-in foe, will be three Republican incumbents seeking reelection to their posts — Weber County Attorney Chris Allred, Weber County Sheriff Ryan Arbon and Weber County Clerk/Auditor Ricky Hatch.
Now for local school board races, which are nonpartisan contests. First, in the Ogden School District:
- District 2 board member Douglas Barker is facing a challenge from Stacy Bernal.
- District 4 member Amber Allred faces a challenge from Jeremy Shinoda.
- District 7 board member Joyce Wilson is unopposed in her reelection bid.
In the Weber School District:
- Kelly Larson and Randy Allred are facing off for the Precinct 1 board post, now held by Dean Oborn, who’s not running again.
- Precinct 6 board member Janis Christensen faces a challenge from Heidi Gross.
- Incumbents Jan Burrell, who holds the Precinct 2 spot, and Bruce Jardine, who holds the Precinct 3 post, are not challenged in their bids.
General election voting culminates Nov. 8.