Provo Council races tight

PROVO — A write-in candidate apparently was the spoiler who helped unseat one member of the Provo City Council on Tuesday night, while two races were too close to call as election results came in slowly.

Election results  » State of Utah Elections Office (Lieutenant Governor's Office)  » Salt Lake County Clerk

The struggle between incumbent citywide council member Steve Turley and recently retired Provo Fire Chief Coy Porter was neck and neck with 45 of 49 precincts reporting. Turley held a slight edge, 51 percent to 48, at press time.

The race between incumbent Cynthia Dayton and challenger Mark Sumsion in northeast District 1 was plagued by slow results. Dayton held a 56 percent to 44 percent lead at press time, with votes counted in seven of nine precincts.

Sherrie Hall Everett apparently unseated Barbara Sandstrom by a slim margin, 45 percent to 40, in District 4, though it was unclear at press time whether all votes had been counted. Write-in candidate Howard Stone landed 15 percent of the vote in city's northwest district. Stone lives near Sandstrom in the Grandview neighborhood, and Sandstrom said he might have cost her a third term.

"I feel I had my vote very diluted with the write-in," she said, "though it still could have turned out the same way."

She expressed frustration over Stone's strong showing but embraced Everett, who helped run her last campaign, and celebrated a clean campaign.

"It's been a wonderful eight years for me," she said.

Everett planned to draw on Sandstrom's expertise but said she ran to make sure the west side, including the Grandview neighborhood, was prepared for explosive growth expected west of Geneva Road.

"I feel a little bit of sadness for her because I know her heart is in doing what's best for Provo," Everett said. "This was never about running against Barbara, it was about making sure the west side had strong representation on the council."

In District 3, Midge Johnson won a second term representing south Provo. Johnson repeated her 2003 victory over Melanie McCoard, this time winning 57 percent to 43. It was McCoard's third attempt to win a seat on the council; she narrowly lost to Mark Hathaway in 1999.

"The bottom line is Midge is a whole lot nicer than I am," McCoard said. "People in Provo like nice. I'm edgy, I'm tough."