Gary Anderson, who sat on the County Commission for six years in the 1980s, defeated three-term incumbent Jerry Grover, according to unofficial returns.

Elsewhere, Aaron Kennard, Salt Lake County's four-term incumbent sheriff, cruised past feisty challenger Brent Cardall.

In Davis County, longtime Sheriff Bud Cox eked past Deputy Todd Richardson in a showdown that was closely contested all night.

Both Utah County Commission candidates identified transportation as the top issue. Grover wanted to join the Wasatch Front Regional Council, which includes Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties, among others, for transportation coordination.

Anderson argued a better strategy would be to coordinate with the Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Transit Authority to bring infrastructure upgrades to Utah County.

"It's a huge upset of a 12-year incumbent that hasn't made any major mistakes," Anderson said. "What it says is that people want new leadership. They're tired of the way things are and they want things to change and we're going to accommodate them."

Grover took some dings from residents after commissioners voted to defect from the Mountainland Association of Governments.

Meanwhile, Anderson had to grapple with questions about a previous commission stint that included his oversight of Timpanogos Mental Health during a headline-grabbing funding scandal in the late 1980s.

The race got more interesting when Anderson landed more votes at the county GOP convention. Anderson pointed to those results as a sign that voters want change while Grover hoped to ride his record of low taxes to a fourth term.

Grover shook off the defeat late Tuesday.

"It's an election; it's not a [Mormon] bishop's interview," he said. "I don't have anything to be depressed about."

No Democrat filed for this commission seat.

Kennard said he tried to deflect as much criticism as possible in what became a sometimes-ugly race for sheriff in Utah's most populous county.

"We tried to fight hard and fair and tried to run a clean campaign," he said. "The citizens looked at the job I've done. I've been in office for 16 years. There's really no reason to fire me."

In Davis County, Cox was seen as vulnerable after a flap several years ago about a proposed tax increase to expand the Davis County jail. Although the county's 138 percent proposed tax boost did not become a reality, memories among the Davis' conservative voters are long when it comes to tax hikes.

Also in the Davis Republican primary, former Centerville Mayor Michael Deamer was soundly defeated by Layton's Louenda Downs for the chance to take on Democrat Chris Martinez this fall. The eventual winner will replace retiring Commissioner Carol Page.

Some predicted Deamer's commission candidacy would be hindered after Centerville's decision to welcome a 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart brought a fierce public outcry.

"The laws on the books said the zoning was commercial and didn't preclude Wal-Mart from coming in," he said.

Downs, a former Davis School Board member, also worked as assistant director of the Davis Education Foundation.

"I've gained an immense amount of political experience on the school board, both in lobbying government and getting people involved," she said.

In a Weber County Commission GOP primary race, Jan M. Zogmaister outpolled L. Nate Pierce, according to unofficial returns.

In a Tooele County Commission Democratic primary, Kendall Thomas defeated Walt Shubert in a nail-biter.

The winner will face Republican Bruce Clegg, who defeated Dennis Rockwell at the county convention. Incumbent Republican Commissioner Matthew Lawrence also got bounced at the convention.