This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Taylorsville and South Jordan voters unseated their fill-in mayors Tuesday, but it was good election night for incumbent mayors in seven of Salt Lake County's other cities.
In Taylorsville, residents turned to Councilman Larry Johnson to be their mayor for the next four years. According to unofficial returns, they pushed aside Jerry Rechtenbach, who had been a councilman until he was elevated to mayor in January when Russ Wall left that position to work for Salt Lake County. Johnson had cast the council's lone vote against Rechtenbach's appointment.
South Jordan voters similarly rejected Scott Osborne, a councilman who became mayor in 2012, in favor of dentist Dave Alvord. But this election could be headed toward a recount because Alvord's margin of victory — unofficially just 19 votes — was fewer than the number of precincts (45) in the city.
Elsewhere, three of the valley's longest-standing mayors — Tom Dolan in Sandy, JoAnn Seghini in Midvale and Kelvyn Cullimore Jr. in Cottonwood Heights — remained atop their cities with runaway wins, according to unofficial returns.
South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood apparently secured a second term with a close victory over Derk Pehrson while Bluffdale Mayor Derk Timothy was unopposed in his second-term race. Riverton's Bill Applegarth had no trouble against write-in candidate Brian Dell Beckstead.
In Murray, Ted Eyre skated to an easy victory after he was listed alone on the ballot following County Councilman David Wilde's withdrawal from the race because of medical problems.
Four other cities elected new mayors to replace retiring leaders.
In Draper, two-time councilman Troy Walker, a Utah Transit Authority board member, emerged as Darrell Smith's successor, defeating Phillip Shell. Former Jordan School Board member Carmen Freeman pulled away to a comfortable win over former city councilwoman Michelle Baguley in Herriman, while in Holladay, businessman Rob Dahle rallied to capture a 52-48 percent decision over Morgan Stanley vice president D. Blaine Anderson.
West Jordan residents picked former councilman Kim Rolfe to be their next mayor, giving him a narrow victory over two-term councilman Ben Southworth in the race to replace Melissa Johnson.
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