Surprises abound in northern Utah County

Election results for north Utah County cities were full of surprises. For example, the next mayor of Cedar Fort wasn't even on the ballot.

Results from the small town have former mayor Howard Anderson returning to office after collecting 92 votes — 22 more than incumbent mayor Jeanine Cook.

Anderson, who lost to Cook in the 1997 election, said he was out of town around the time of the Aug. 15 deadline to file for candidacy.

Anderson said he was approached about a month later by a number of Cedar Fort residents telling him they were disappointed he wasn't running for mayor.

"So I said, 'Well, start me a write-in campaign then,' " he said. "People in town got together and put together a write-in campaign and it apparently worked."

The impromptu mayoral race was popular among registered voters as — unofficially — 89 percent cast ballots Tuesday.

Cook was in good spirits Tuesday night. "Change is always good," she said. "You have new energy and new ideas. I've been in office for eight years, and I really appreciate that time."

On the town council, Chris Murphy and Brad Norris claimed the two four-year seats, defeating incumbent Dennis A. Malmstrom.

Results in other cities weren't quite so surprising, although the margin of victory in some key races ended up being much larger than anticipated.

In Cedar Hills, the top winner for City Council was Eric Richardson. He received 700 votes. Charelle Bowman received 587 votes to win the second available seat. Incumbent mayor Michael C. McGee ran unopposed.

In American Fork, Heber Thompson won the mayoral race in a landslide — 2,622 to city councilman Shirl LeBaron's 1,233. "I think the voters wanted a pretty substantial change from what current practice has been in the city," Thompson said.

Thompson credited a strong grassroots campaign for the victory.

City council candidate Heidi Rodeback fared equally well, leading all council candidates with 2,021 votes. Incumbent Jimmie Cates won another term on the council, while fellow incumbent Juel Andersen Belmont was defeated.

Retired police chief Terry Fox, who won the primary election by a wide margin, fell surprisingly short in the general election.

For the two-year council seat in American Fork, Dale O. Gunther won with 2,533 votes to Marc J. Ellison's 1,207.