Winder beats Kennard in sheriff's race

After 16 years, there's a new sheriff in town, as Jim Winder ousted incumbent Aaron Kennard for Salt Lake County Sheriff.

Kennard conceded to Winder late Tuesday, and invited him to a staff meeting today to introduce the staff to their new boss.

Late returns indicated a Republican will head the district attorney's office: Lohra Miller was leading Democrat Sim Gill by 4 percentage points with 99.5 percent of the precincts reporting. Current District Attorney David Yocom, a Democrat, has served four terms in office and opted not to seek re-election.

Winder, a Democrat, catapulted from a 30 point deficit one month ago to take a 28-point lead with 99.5 percent of the precincts reporting.

"It's hard to take it all in, especially the spread," Winder said. "It's a startling turn of events, that's for sure."

The sheriff's race is a near-replica of 16 years ago, when the Republican Kennard ousted incumbent Pete Hayward, who had served for 12 years.

Back then, Kennard accused his opponent of "still living in the '50s." Winder leveled those same accusations this year, saying Kennard is not moving forward and incorporating technology at the jail. The races also featured a split among deputy support.

Winder stole from Kennard's playbook from 16 years ago by out-spending and out-publicizing the incumbent. And just like that old race, the incumbent blamed the newcomer of avoiding the issues in the campaign.

The big issue of the race turned out to be all about golf. Kennard's summer scores were posted on the Utah Golf Association Web site, and showed he played several rounds during normal work hours—including a round while large groups protested President Bush's August visit.

Kennard said he is proud of his 16 years of work as the Salt Lake County Sheriff, but still regrets the last-minute negative campaigning by some in his camp.

"There were a lot of mistakes made — the golf was one issue," Kennard said. "It was time for a new sheriff."

The race for district attorney was a nail-biter up until the end of election night, just as it had been throughout the campaign.

"I think the voters responded to the need in the county for a fresh start," Miller said. "With a new sheriff and new district attorney, we have an exciting future in front of us for the county."

Miller and Gill sparred throughout the campaign over who is best qualified for the job. Miller has never prosecuted a felony case. For the past 15 years or so, she has provided prosecutorial services for Holladay, Taylorsville, West Jordan and Cottonwood Heights.

Both candidates fought off allegations of breaking campaign contribution law.

Miller was cleared of any wrong-doing after accepting alleged "proxy contributions"—a developer allegedly gave bonuses to employees and then coerced them to donate to Miller's campaign. Gill was accused of deliberately holding back information on his financial disclosures.

---

Contributing: Lee Davidson and Deborah Bulkeley.

E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com