Salt Lake City Council Chairman Charlie Luke conceded Monday to opponent Dan Dugan in the race to represent the city’s District 6.
Luke, who sought a third term on the City Council, was the clear winner in August’s primary election but lost traction to Dugan last week in what became a close general election race. His opponent’s 5-vote lead on election night widened Friday to 167 votes with the vast majority of ballots already counted.
“Serving District 6 for eight years has been an honor,” he said in a statement posted to social media Monday afternoon. “I have enjoyed working with neighbors at the seven community councils, on neighborhood CIP [capital improvement] projects, and with my incredible City Council colleagues.”
Luke, who works as a lobbyist for the Utah Association of Community Services, also thanked City Council staff, his employer and his family for “letting me share my time and energy with District 6.”
As a candidate, Luke had promised to keep pushing for an east-side police precinct and improved east-to-west connectivity and to continue prioritizing the “nuts and bolts” of city government.
Dugan, a political newcomer who works in the manufacturing industry, will take office in January as the only new face on the City Council. He has attributed his victory to a focused ground game knocking on doors and getting out his message to voters.
As a candidate, Dugan hinged his campaign on a promise that he would fight the inland port, a massive development project planned for the city’s northwest side that he argues will cost the city money and that he believes will contribute to poor air quality, and made an issue of several donations to Luke from a developer associated with the project.
Luke outraised Dugan by a more than two-to-one margin, bringing in $44,734 to Dugan’s $21,105 in the most expensive Salt Lake City Council race this year.
In a statement on Friday, Dugan said he was “excited to represent the district,” which encompasses the East Bench, Wasatch Hollow and Foothill/Sunnyside neighborhoods.
“The next four years must be a team effort,” he wrote. “I cannot do this alone. We must work together, listen to each other, respect each other while doing the hard work it takes to create change.”
Dugan said he hopes to resist development that puts public health at risk, “press hard” on clean-air initiatives and rewrite campaign finance rules that give special interests the opportunity to exert “undue influence” on City Hall.
“Most of all,” he said, “I want Salt Lake City voters to reach out and feel like they can be involved in our wonderful city.”
Follow @tstevensmedia