The Utah County Elections office released its third round of election results around 4 p.m. Wednesday with approximately 88% of ballots processed and counted.

Utah County Clerk/Auditor Josh Daniels said this release included an additional 5,000 to 7,000 ballots, adding to the numbers released early Wednesday morning. The elections office now has received 91,500 ballots, putting voter turnout in the county at 40%, according to a tweet from the election office.

While the election results won’t be finalized for about two weeks, Daniels said he doesn’t believe any of the Utah County races are close enough to flip winners after counting the remaining ballots — except for one race.

Utah County Commissioner Seat B

Incumbent Bill Lee and challenger Brandon Gordon are still running the closest among the races in Utah County. The latest batch of results have minimal changes as Gordon still leads the race with 51.61% of 65,380 ballots cast compared to Lee’s 48.39%.

Gordon told the Daily Herald he remains confident his lead in votes will holdout.

“I’m just waiting to see every vote counted and see where it lands,” Lee said. “I’m always hopeful, but I haven’t done the math to see what’d I’d have to get for a turnaround, but it’d have to be higher than what I have been getting. There’s always hope, but I’m also a realist, so we will just wait and watch.”

According to Daniels, unofficially, most people consider the race final once it is impossible for the loser to make up the deficit based on outstanding/uncounted ballots. With about 88% of the votes accounted for, this seems likely for many county races.

3rd Congressional District

Incumbent U.S. Rep. John Curtis was named victor over his challenger Chris Herrod. According to the second wave of results released by the elections office, Curtis received 65.93% and Herrod 34.07% of the total 47,710 ballots cast in Utah County.

Across the 3rd District, Curtis collected just over 70% support out of over 98,000 votes.

Curtis’ campaign manager, Adrielle Herring, said Herrod called Curtis to concede. Curtis sent out a radio message Wednesday afternoon thanking the public for their support.

“Thank you for trusting me again to be your Republican nominee for Congress,” Curtis said. “I’ll keep working hard to solve the problems you face and to get things done for Utah. In the next term, you’ll see me working to address inflation and big-tech issues like data privacy and freedom of speech. I’ll fight overregulation that threatens our food security by driving farmers and ranchers out of business. I’ll keep fighting for U.S. oil and gas. The U.S. has the cleanest fuel production in the world. Exporting fuel to our allies is good for the global environment, the economy, and national security, as well.”

Curtis will go on to face Democrat Glenn Wright, a Summit County Council member, in the general election.

4th Congressional District

Incumbent U.S Rep. Burgess Owens was declared the victor near 9 p.m. Tuesday evening after winning over 60% of the votes in Utah County. The third wave of results showed Owens with 64.28% support out of 27,387 ballots cast while his challenger, Jake Hunsaker, received only 34.07%.

Owens’ support in Utah County outperformed the rest of the district. Across the fourth, Owens picked up 62.14% of the vote. He will go on to face Democrat Darlene McDonald, an author and activist, and United Utah Party candidate January Walker in the general election.

Utah County Auditor

Results for county auditor remain the same as the first initial release. Rod Mann, former mayor of Highland, secured 55.80% of the votes compared to Rudy Livingston’s 44.20% of the total 70,530 ballots cast.

In an interview with the Daily Herald, Livingston said he was very disappointed with the election results.

“I truly felt that I was the best candidate for the county, but the voters felt differently,” said Livingston. “I have called Rod to congratulate him, and I will do whatever I can to continue making improvements for our citizens.”

With no other candidates in the race, Mann will be the first sole auditor. The position, previously clerk/auditor, was split into two after a vote in 2021 by the Utah County Commission.

Utah County Commissioner Seat A

Numbers have not changed much in the race for Commissioner Seat A. Incumbent Amelia Powers Gardner’s significant lead barely budged since the initial release of results. She secured 63.35% of the total 71,743 ballots cast, compared to Renee Tribe’s 36.47%.

Tribe told the Daily Herald she was surprised by the results after receiving so much community support, adding that she has already congratulated Powers Gardner.

Powers Gardner will go on to face Democrat Jeanne Bowen and unaffiliated candidate Tom Tomeny in the general election. Powers Gardner is seeking her first full term in office, having been elevated to the position after the resignation of Tanner Ainge in March 2021.

State Senate District 23

Results didn’t change from the initial release on Wednesday. Out of 11,667 votes, incumbent Sen. Keith Grover won 69.28% of votes compared to challenger Brandon Beckham’s 30.42%.

Beckham’s campaign was plagued by scandal from the jump, having been charged with forcible sexual abuse the same week he filed to run for office. Supporters called it a “political hit job,” but the case is ongoing, with a protective order having been filed against Beckham.

Utah State School Board District 11

Incumbent Cindy Davis received 53.33% of the votes compared to Kim Del Grosso’s 46.67%. A total of 23,661 votes were counted in the district between Utah and Salt Lake County.

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