Godfrey garnered 40 percent of the ballots cast in Tuesday's primary, but City Council member Susie Van Hooser was a close second with 37 percent. State Rep. Neil Hansen came in third with 19 percent, votes that could go to Van Hooser rather than Godfrey.

The mayor, however, said he doesn't believe Hansen's supporters will necessarily back Van Hooser.

"Nobody has the power to shift those over," Godfrey said. "A general election is very different. It's also about those who show up [at the polls] for the first time."

Elected the first time on a promise to shake up a city that had seen better days, Godfrey has inspired strong passions.

Many in the business community credit him with reviving the downtown and attracting new investment, particularly from outdoor recreation companies.

Though he pulled the plug this summer on his earlier advocacy of selling the Mount Ogden Golf Course and surrounding open space for a luxury subdivision and gondola, many residents remain wary that they will lose hillside open space.

The mayor's detractors also worry that Godfrey has exposed taxpayers to risks only businesses should take, particularly with the city's $40 million-plus investment in The Junction mall downtown.

Van Hooser, who was appointed to the City Council a year ago, is a retired school teacher who says she would work to repair the damaged relationship between the mayor's office and council and would never sell off the city's open space.

Hansen, who has represented Ogden in the Utah House for 10 years, also lost in the primary four years ago.

The two other candidates in the race, John Thompson and Doyle Sexton, garnered less than 3 percent and less than 1 percent of the vote, respectively.

Godfrey's campaign coffers, at least at the end of August, dwarfed Van Hooser's.

The mayor had raised more than $100,100, much of it donations of several thousands each from businesses and their owners, particularly in the development and real estate industries.

Van Hooser had raised just more than $27,000 by the Aug. 31 filing deadline.

Neither Thompson nor Sexton reported campaign donations.

Incumbent council member Amy Wicks, who is often at odds with Godfrey, will face Royal Eccles in November in the race for an at-large seat. The two nearly split the vote, though Eccles had 34 more.

Newcomers Sheila Aardema and Blain Johnson will vie for the two-year at-large seat. Johnson was the big vote getter in that race.

On the ballot in the municipal Ward 4 race will be Kent Petersen and Caitlin Gochnour.