Recount confirms House race result

A Wednesday recount did not change anything in a tightly contested legislative race.

Following the recount, Jim Bird still defeated Rep. Peggy Wallace, R-West Jordan, in a race for the Republican nomination in House District 42. Bird won by 25 votes, which the recount confirmed.

Only a recount in Piute County still needs to be conducted following the primary elections, which were held June 27. That race, in which Travas Blood defeated Bill Sudweeks by three votes in the race for the Republican nomination for a county commission seat, will be recounted on Monday.

The results in Piute have been a source of controversy because three registered Democrats were allowed to vote in the closed Republican primary. With only three votes separating the candidates, Sudweeks could have sought a district court opinion about whether the ballots, or even the election, should be voided.

Wednesday, however, he said that after contacting state party officials and the Utah Attorney General's office, he decided against any legal action. He could not pursue anything at this point, anyway, since according to state law, any election challenges besides recount requests have to be made within 10 days of the election, a deadline which expired last Friday.

"It's a small county and it didn't seem worthwhile to me to take it to court, even though there was a reasonable argument," he said. "I don't have a campaign fund and the job doesn't pay much. I don't think it's worth it to pursue" a task which would involve attorney and court fees.

Sudweeks, who requested the recount Monday, said that if he had worked harder, he might have won. While he still is considering a write-in campaign, he said that turning the race into a big controversy was something he preferred to avoid.

"I'm not looking at this job as a political stepping stone," he said. "It doesn't make sense to turn this into a big political fight."

Piute County Clerk/Auditor Valeen Brown said that the recount will be done Monday. As for the Democrat ballots, she could not think of a way to correct the problem, and doubted that even the Democrats announcing who they voted for would be suitable, unless the statements were made under oath.

"We can't decipher which votes were cast," she said. "There would be no fair way to fix it."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com