This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Tuesday's primary showed mixed results for State School Board incumbents.

Unofficial tallies suggested incumbents Dixie Allen and David Thomas would advance, as well as former board member Janet Cannon.

But Leslie Castle and board Chairman David Crandall lagged in third place for their districts by too-close-to-call margins.

Final results will not be available until the state's July 12 canvass, which will include provisional ballots and mail-in votes received after polls closed.

Eight of the school board's 15 seats are up for election this year. The top two vote earners for each district advance to the general election.

In District 7, which includes Salt Lake City and Park City, early results showed Castle receiving 15 percent of the vote, behind Carol Barlow-Lear with 28 percent and Shelly Teuscher with 16 percent.

Crandall was also in a close third with 25 percent of the vote in District 10. His challengers Kathleen Riebe and Gary Thompson earned 49 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Thomas, the board's vice chairman, appeared to secure his place on the ballot after finishing second with 27 percent of the vote in District 4. He will face off against Jennifer Graviet, who snagged 34 percent of the vote.

In District 12, early results showed Allen ahead with 46 percent of the vote, followed by Alisa Ellis with 30 percent.

And Cannon led with 38 percent in District 8, which includes South Salt Lake, Murray and Holladay, followed by Richard Nelson with 25 percent.

The remaining elections showed primary victories for Lisa Cummins and Erin Preston in District 11, and for Michelle Boulter and Wesley Christiansen in District 15.

Scott Neilson and incumbent Stan Lockhart will also compete after advancing to the general election without a primary in District 13.

Before this year, candidates did not participate in primary elections. Instead, a nominating committee sent names to the governor, who selected two candidates for each board seat.

That process was successfully challenged in court, leading lawmakers this year to create a nonpartisan school board primary for 2016 and partisan primaries beginning in 2018.

The new election method was met with a series of statewide debates, sponsored by the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, the Hinckley Institute of Politics, Sutherland Institute and KSL.

Royce Van Tassell, executive director of the charter school association, said another round of debates is being planned for the 16 candidates who advance to November's general election.

"We're thrilled the debates went as well as they did," he said, "and look forward to helping the public to better understand all of the candidates views."

Twitter: @bjaminwood —

Unofficial Utah School Board results

(Top two advance)

District 4

Brent J. Strate 2,769

Brad Asay 2,641

x-Jennifer Graviet 6,529

x-Dave Thomas (i) 5,197

Elizabeth Carlin 2,224

District 7

Frank G. Strickland 1,251

x-Carol Barlow-Lear 4,603

Leslie Brooks-Castle (i) 2,416

Dan Tippetts 1,826

x-Shelly Teuscher 2,681

Frank Langheinrich 1,559

Laurie Williams 2,323

District 8

x-Richard Nelson 6,118

David Sharette 3,250

Linda Dixon Mariotti 5,966

x-Janet Cannon 9,351

District 10

x-Kathleen Riebe 11,332

x-Gary Thompson 6,070

Dave Crandall (i) 5,817

District 11

x-Erin Preston 6,686

Reed Chadwick 5,081

x-Lisa Cummins 8,152

District 12

x-Alisa Ellis 6,397

x-Dixie Lee Allen (i) 9,374

James Rex Moss Jr. 5,303

District 15

Scott F. Smith 4,131

x-Michelle Boulter 6,398

x-Wesley Christiansen 4,517

R. Neil Walter 3,142