From Deseret News archives:

Rocky loses west side, sweeps the east

Fed Up Utah swayed voters in Districts 1 and 2

Published: Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003 9:19 p.m. MST
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Fed Up Utah may have impacted Salt Lake City's mayor race after all.

While the Davis County group with designs on getting Mayor Rocky Anderson ousted from City Hall failed in its ultimate goal of helping challenger Frank Pignanelli defeat Anderson, the group seemed to make a difference as it targeted west-side voters.

A Dan Jones & Associates poll commissioned by the Deseret Morning News and KSL TV the week before the Nov. 4 general election showed Pignanelli leading Anderson by modest margins on the city's west side. In District 1 (northwest Salt Lake City) Pignanelli led 53 percent to 38 percent with 9 percent undecided, the poll found. In District 2 (southwest Salt Lake City) Pignanelli's lead was 47 percent to 42 percent with 11 percent undecided, according to the poll.

However, after the poll was taken, Fed Up Utah launched a massive mailing campaign explaining to west-siders how Anderson had neglected them. Anderson called the mailings "disgusting" and untrue, but the mailings seem to have resonated with voters.

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Precinct by precinct voting tallies from the Nov. 4, released by the Salt Lake City recorders office Thursday, showed Anderson lost the west side by margins much greater than Jones' poll predicted.

In District 1, Pignanelli earned 65 percent of the vote, while Anderson gained just 35 percent. In District 2, Pignanelli won 57 percent to Anderson's 43 percent, according to the recorder's office. Those totals do not included absentee or provisional ballots.

Faced with the data, Fed Up Utah claimed credit and Anderson conceded the group might have made a difference.

Anderson said Fed Up Utah may have played a role in his dismal west side numbers and promised to do more to let west siders know all that the city has done for them.

"We have made tremendous strides on the west side," he said.

Meanwhile, Fed Up Utah sent out a press release touting their efforts.

"Largely through the efforts of Fed Up Utah, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson's election lead dwindled on the west side of Salt Lake City and caused him to lose the election in that part of town," the release stated.

Outside the west-side districts, Pignanelli didn't win any other districts within the city, although he did score a virtual tie in District 6, a wealthy district on the upper-east side.

The District 6 vote was split 50 percent to 50 percent.

In District 3, Anderson won 55 percent to 45 percent. The District 4 vote was heavily for Anderson, 67 percent to 33 percent.

District 5 also went to Anderson, 65 percent to 35 percent. Like District 6, District 7 (the Sugar House area) was close with Anderson squeaking by 51 percent to 49 percent.

Even though the west side vote got a lot of media coverage throughout the election, it had little effect on the results because there are very few voters on the west side compared to the east. All told, there were 41,200 ballots cast at polls Tuesday. Of those, only 6,287, or 15 percent of the citywide total, were cast by residents of Districts 1 and 2.


E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com

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