Oct. 3, 2001--
Most incumbent mayors made it through Tuesday's municipal primary elections, advancing to the Nov. 6 general election.
Sandy's Tom Dolan cruised into the general election, while Provo's Lewis Billings found the going tougher and West Jordan's Donna Evans squeaked through with a runner-up finish.
Brigham City Mayor David Kano was ousted after one term and Coalville's Merlyn Johnson and Pleasant Grove's Ed Sanderson also were bounced.
Successful newcomers included former Southern Utah University President Gerald Sherratt, who advanced to a fall showdown against Evan Vickers.
In Park City, open space advocate Dana Williams will face Councilman Fred Jones.
Former Logan Mayor Darla Clark earned another crack at her old job. She will go against incumbent Doug Thompson.
In southwestern Utah, La Verkin voters may have offered an early referendum on the city's anti-United Nations ordinance. Mayor Dan Howard, who pushed the ordinance, survived but was beaten soundly by Tom Stocks, who opposed the legislation.
Turnout was generally spotty across the state.
Trying for a third term in Sandy, Dolan picked up 51 percent in a race that included three challengers.
"We do a residential poll every December, and last year 98 percent of the voters said they liked living in Sandy and 99 percent feel safe here, so we've been on course in making the city a clean, safe place to live," Dolan said.
State Rep. Trisha Beck, with 26 percent of the vote, edged Sandy Councilwoman Linda Saville, with 21 percent, for the other spot on the Sandy mayoral ballot.
West Jordan's Evans finished 7 percentage points behind state Rep. Bryan Holladay. Land developer Steven Mascaro finished third.
In Provo, Billings outpolled firefighter Dave Bailey. City Councilman Dennis Poulsen and retired Air Force meteorologist John Maurin finished out of the running.
With 95 percent of the ballots counted, Billings had 2,321 votes and Bailey had 1,769.
Billings said it was gratifying to advance to the general election.
Bailey said, "This is my first time in politics. We've worked real hard."
Poulsen received 1,220 votes and Maurin had 109 votes.
Logan Mayor Thompson received about 43 percent of the votes to Clark's 34 percent, forcing a repeat of the last election. Four years ago, Thompson defeated then-incumbent Clark by a landslide. This time, Thompson has been attacked by foes of a proposed power plant while facing budget woes related to a power crunch.
"The incumbents always get shot at, and to come out with the higher percentage is really gratifying," Thompson said.
"The problem with the primary, is you get so few people out that you really can't tell," Clark said. "You'd like to come out on top, but if you come out in the top two, that's OK."
About 26 percent of Brigham City's registered voters made it to the polls Tuesday. J. Douglas Wight emerged as the strongest candidate for mayor with 30 percent of the vote and will compete against Councilwoman Lou Ann Christensen, who received 26 percent.
Former SUU President Sherratt received 56 percent of the vote in the Cedar City Race. He will face former city Councilman Evan Vickers, who had 24 percent.
"Cedar City has enormous potential and I think this can be a wonderful four years if it works out in the finals," Sherratt said.
Vickers said, "Even though I'm a thousand votes behind, there is an opportunity to pick up more votes and make this a real dogfight at the end."
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
