Anderson to rejoin Utah County Commission

Gary J. Anderson said Utah County was in need of change — and voters agreed.

Anderson claimed 56 percent of the vote to defeat incumbent Jerry D. Grover in the Republican primary for a seat on the Utah County Commission.

Anderson, who served as county commissioner from 1983 to 1986, will face no opposition in the Nov. 7 general election.

"What it looks like is the voters heard our message and they want a change," he said. "They want some action on transportation, economic development and law enforcement, and if this holds up, we're going to accommodate them."

Grover has served on the county commission since 1994.

In the race for Utah County clerk/auditor, Bryan E. Thompson collected 60 percent of the vote to Cary McConnell's 40 percent.

Thompson also will be unopposed on Election Day. He replaces Kim Jackson, who decided not to seek re-election and instead run for county treasurer. That campaign ended at the Utah County GOP convention, when Robert C. Kirk won the nomination.

Elsewhere, Pleasant Grove residents voted largely in favor of a $5 million bond to build a new recreation center in the city.

Nearly 66 percent voted in favor of the bond for the proposed 50,000-square-foot recreation center, which will replace the old 17,000-square-foot facility. The location of the center has not yet been officially announced.

Elsewhere in the state, two incumbent sheriffs entered the primaries fighting for their jobs.

In Salt Lake County, Sheriff Aaron Kennard was soundly defeating upstart challenger Brent Cardall by a 40 percent margin in their Republican primary. Kennard, who is seeking his fifth term, is in a primary for the first time in his elected career.

A much closer Republican primary was in Davis County, where Sheriff Bud Cox was knotted tightly with challenger Todd Richardson for most of the night. However, with 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Cox held a 52 to 48 percent lead.

If Cox had lost, he would have been the third incumbent Republican to be ousted in Davis County in two years since a 138 percent tax increase was proposed two years ago. Former commissioner Michael Cragun lost in the county convention in 2004, while current commissioner Danny McConkie lost in this year's convention.

In Washington County, Santa Clara Mayor Dennis "Denny" Drake held on to a slight lead over St. George attorney Larry Meyers on Tuesday, and was winning the county commission race with 99 percent of the precincts reporting.

Meyers, a conservative whose campaign focused on illegal immigration problems in the county, lagged behind Drake by little more than 100 votes throughout the night.

This is Meyer's second run at the county commission seat. Drake's campaign was supported by most elected officials in the county.

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Contributing: Josh Loftin, Nancy Perkins

E-mail: jpage@desnews.com; achoate@desnews.com