Wilson maintains lead in Salt Lake County mayoral race; The $507M bond broke again

SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson maintained a healthy lead in her bid to retain her seat in Utah's most populous county, a day after she said she felt “very comfortable” about reelection changes.

Wilson, a Democrat, is ahead of Republican challenger Erin Ryder, but her lead narrowed slightly, 56% to 44%, according to the latest ballot counts released Wednesday evening. After initial results were announced, Wilson led 59% to 42%.

Wilson said Tuesday she was “satisfied with the margin.” Ryder's campaign staff said they plan to monitor additional results before making any decisions.

According to the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office, there are still plenty of ballots to be counted. It now reports that nearly 400,000 ballots have been processed, but as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, nearly 130,000 additional ballots were being processed.

That includes nearly 15,000 provisional ballots, which are largely distributed to same-day registered voters.

Meanwhile, the $507 million public safety/prison bond that Wilson advocated for in the final weeks before the election — and that Rider opposed — became another mess. The vote against the bond now leads the vote 51.6% to 48.4% for the bond.

The difference went from about 2,000 on Tuesday night to 4,000 early Wednesday morning. As of Wednesday night, the gap is now about 10,800.

It would also help the county pay for new county jail beds, expanded mental health treatment options, a unit to help people “reintegrate into society” when they get out of jail, a new justice and accountability center and low-security facilities. Level repeat offender.

Wilson said Tuesday night that she would closely track the results, but it was not immediately clear what would happen if they failed. She indicated that — if she remains in office — the county could find other ways to pay for related projects.

“It's comprehensive, and I think if the public is willing to take a full comprehensive approach, we're not going to stop in Salt Lake County. We're going to work on priority issues and go from there.” she said

There were no leadership changes in the four Salt Lake County Council races between Tuesday and Wednesday, but some races narrowed and others widened. For example, Natalie Pinkney's lead for the third at-large seat is now 51.1% to 48.9%. She led Rachel Morris 54.3% to 46.6% in the initial results.

Salt Lake County Councilwoman Dee Theodore, the sole incumbent on the ballot, extended her lead over Zach Robinson in the District 6 race. The lead which was earlier 151 votes has now reached 3,000 votes.

It is not clear when all the remaining ballots will be counted. All results are not official until the county's Board of Canvassers meets on Nov. 19 to certify the election.