West Jordan mayor grabs big lead, may be first to be reelected in 46 years

West Jordan’s incumbent mayor, Dirk Burton, grabbed an early lead in his reelection bid, according to partial unofficial returns Tuesday night.

Burton had almost 60% of the vote, while his challenger, City Council member Kayleen Whitelock, had 40%.

“I’m happy for the confidence the voters are putting in me and then staff because it’s not just me alone,” Burton said on election night. “Keeping me here helps the staff know [how] they have to go forward.”

The mayor is confident the official numbers will remain in his favor. If he ultimately prevails, he will become the first mayor to be reelected since 1977 in what is now Utah’s third most-populous city.

[See the latest unofficial election results across the state.]

An electrical contractor and business owner, Burton assumed office in 2020 as the city’s first leader under a “strong” mayor system.

Burton believes that the new system helped him break the city’s one-term-only tradition.

“I answer directly to the residents instead of having a city manager answer to the residents,” he said Tuesday night. “And I think that helps a lot because we have been doing what the residents want these past four years.”

For a second term, Burton said he looks forward to collaborating with West Jordan’s surrounding municipalities to improve the region’s quality of life.

He is a big proponent of limiting city taxes and fees and avoiding “excessive regulation” on businesses.

Whitelock has served as an at-large council member since 2018 and worked previously as a director of a pharmaceutical research company and as a member of the Jordan School District Board of Education.

Additional vote returns were expected to be released later Tuesday night, and mail-in ballots postmarked by the Nov. 20 deadline will still be counted in coming days. Results must be finalized by Dec. 6.

Alixel Cabrera is a Report for America corps member and writes about the status of communities on the west side of the Salt Lake Valley for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.