While the process has been ongoing for nearly six months, the intensity felt like elevated in May and June with candidates and their allies attempting a wide range of tactics to give themselves an edge.

I know that historically this has been a common reality in American politics at all levels. Things have frequently gotten heated locally, state-wide and nationally as different viewpoints and candidates vie for success at the polls.

I’ve watched that play out in Utah Valley this year but I’ve found myself thinking about things a little differently.

Do we ever stop to think about the collateral damage that negativity, accusations and vitriol incurs?

Because, in my experience, all of the candidates are people with families, friends and neighbors who care about them. They often put themselves out there for the candidates and it can be very difficult physically, mentally and emotionally.

It reminded me of one time when I was talking to the family member of a coach of a local college football team that was having a rough season. They shared with me how their children were being treated poorly at school by their peers because the team was struggling.

I think that’s heartbreaking — and that was with sports. Politics can be even more vicious.

I’ve seen posts on social media from candidates and family members who lost in the primaries this week, thanking their supporters and expressing their appreciation for the chance to run. I hope all of those candidates find ways to continue to benefit their communities, even if it isn’t in the position they were running for.

But I suspect if you talked to many of them privately, there is also a silver lining to losing a primary election: Now they can step away from the spotlight.

For those who won their primaries this week, though, this is just one step in a long and often exhausting process.

Some will now turn their attention to the general election in the fall, where they face challengers from other political parties. In Utah, some of those races appear extremely likely to go one way or another — but not all.

And complacency can be costly, so those candidates likely will stay busy in the coming months.

In a broader sense, though, the biggest challenges await those who actually win their elections in November and then step into their official roles.

I often feel the best I could say to those winners is “congratulations — and now good luck.”

Because there are always going to be tough challenges to face.

Our local city and county leaders will have to address the ongoing headache that is effective taxation.

Do you try to keep taxes low by making budget cuts? How do you pay for adequate services? What is the impact of inflation or other cost increases?

My experience has shown that few citizens have the combination of time, expertise and financial savviness to understand government budgets — and why should they? That’s why we elect representatives to figure it out for us.

But we all certainly care when it affects our bank accounts.

And it is much easier to complain than it is to find effective solutions.

Then there are other huge issues that individuals in various elected positions will have to face:

• How do you handle the increasing concerns about data centers when it seems like many want the benefits but don’t want take on even the smallest of costs?
• What is the best way to manage the discontentment and fear related to immigration and enforcing certain laws, a topic that has become less prominent in recent months but could flare up again at any moment?
• Where do you find answers to water questions that are so reliant on Mother Nature and try to save a vast lake that loses an estimated average of 2.6 billion gallons of water to evaporation each day (650 to 975 billion gallons annually)?
• If those aren’t enough, then how do you plan to address infrastructure, transportation, election integrity, public safety, education, balancing economic and population growth with gridlock and overcrowding, along with so many other important issues?

I suspect everyone reading this right now could make a list of the concerns that matter to them, while some I have mentioned might not seem like as big of a deal.

What a government of the people requires of us, however, is to have people step and do the best they can to address the challenges in their jurisdictions.

And those who are elected now have that mantle.

So to all of our candidates who ran for office and lost, I say thank you for your willingness to serve your community — and congratulations for now being able to move on.

And to those who won, I say congratulations on your victory.

Now good luck as you move on to the next step.

I think you’ll need it.

Jared Lloyd is the managing editor of the Daily Herald and can be reached at jlloyd@heraldextra.com.