A Salt Lake County Council member had his hopes for a fourth term dashed Tuesday when certified election results for last month’s primary sealed his challenger’s victory.
Riverton City Council member Sheldon Stewart bested three-term Salt Lake County Council member Steve DeBry in a race that will almost certainly decide who will represent District 5, which covers the southwest portion of Salt Lake County.
Stewart, who qualified for the primary by securing support from county GOP delegates, edged out DeBry with nearly 57% of the roughly 22,700 tallied votes.
“I feel good,” Stewart said Tuesday. “Just looking forward to getting things ready and moving forward.”
In a brief phone call Tuesday, DeBry acknowledged Stewart’s win and said he had contacted his challenger to congratulate him and wish him well.
“The public has spoken,” DeBry said. “The voters decided.”
Stewart, a bank executive in South Jordan, ran on reducing spending, improving budget transparency and getting the county out of the land use business.
No Democrat or third-party candidate has filed to run for the seat, but a write-in candidate could emerge before the general election in November.
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