Here's who is moving forward after the Utah County Republican primary

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Utah County is poised for significant change in this year's general election.
• Incumbent Aaron Davidson lost to Corey Astill in the race for County Clerk.
• Michelle Kaufusi and David Spencer won commissioner primaries; but both face challengers in November.

PROVO — Utah County is poised to see change this November after the incumbent clerk appears to have lost the primary race and two commissioner seats are open for newcomers.

Utah's primary election day was marked by several shocking results when multiple prominent Republicans in the Utah Legislature lost their bids for reelection.

The unofficial results show voter turnout in Utah County reached only 27%. While not finalized until the county certifies the results in a commission meeting within two weeks of election, the Utah election results website shows all precincts in the county are "partially reported."

Countywide races

Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson appears to have lost his reelection campaign, garnering 25,605 votes, or 44.6% of votes.

GOP contender Corey Astill totaled 31,707 votes or 55.3% of votes. He will face off with Forward Party candidate Russ J Rampton in November.

The county clerk primary race was hotly contested this year. Astill claimed in his campaign Davidson's tenure has been marked by "operational election failures."

Davidson also recently faced backlash after appointing a 23-year-old conservative influencer, Kai Schwemmer, as his chief deputy clerk. He adjusted the role a week later to be a confidential administrative associate in response to public outcry over Schwemmer's lack of election administration experience and history of alleged antisemitic and sexist remarks on social media.

On Thursday, Astill said he was "thrilled to win the GOP nomination."

"I'm deeply grateful to everyone who supported this campaign. I can't thank you enough for placing your trust in me. I look forward to victory in November and serving Utah County with integrity and dedication," he said on social media.

Two of the three County Commission seats are up for grabs after Brandon Gordon and Amelia Powers Gardner announced they would not be running for reelection.

Former Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi clinched a victory with 54% of the votes, or 31,896 votes, in the race for County Commissioner Seat A, beating out former firefighter and nurse anesthetist Brent V. Bowles.

She will contend with Jacob D. Oaks, who is running as an Independent American, and Jeanne Marie Bowen, a Democrat, in the general election.

"Thank you, Utah County. I am honored to have won the bid," Kaufusi said. "Together, we are stronger, and I look forward to serving alongside you as we work to maintain and improve our beautiful county."

County Commissioner Seat B had three candidates vying for the spot. Former Orem City Councilman David Spencer came out on top with 42% of votes.

Kaufusi's deputy mayor Isaac Paxman placed second with 34% of votes, and former undercover agent and law enforcement official Carolina Herrin trailed in last with 22% of votes.

"I want to sincerely thank every voter who placed their trust in me. Your support means more than I can express," Spencer said. "This campaign has always been about putting Utah County residents first, restoring trust, protecting taxpayers and bringing conservative leadership and accountability to county government. I am humbled, grateful and ready for the work ahead."

In November, Spencer's opponents will be Democrat J. Allen and Forward candidate David Hinckley.

State Senate

Utah County voters decided on their Republican nominees for Senate districts 18 and 21.

Senate District 18 includes part of Utah County and southern Salt Lake County. Longtime Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, trailed Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, in a rare battle between two sitting legislators of the same party. McCay had 32.5% of the Utah County votes, while Fiefia had 68.5%.

Fiefia will face A. Dane Anderson, a Democrat, in November.

Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Highland, has been serving in the state Legislature since 2019. He secured almost 2,000 more votes than challenger Kelly Smith for the District 21 race, garnering 57% compared to her 43%. A retired educator, Smith previously served as a city councilwoman for Cedar Hills.

Brammer will contend with Democrat Kandee Myers and Forward Party candidate Wayne Woodfield in the general election.

State Board of Education

Portions of Utah County also had the chance to vote on representatives for the State Board of Education districts 11 and 14. District 11 is shared with Salt Lake County, and District 14 encompasses portions of Beaver, Carbon, Emery, Grand, Iron, Juab, Millard, Sanpete and Sevier counties.

In a tight race with vote totals less than 2% apart, education attorney Tracy J. Nuttal won District 11 with 9,141 votes, just 336 votes more than her opponent Terry L. Hutchinson, who was a former local school board member in Washington County.

Nuttal will face off with Lacey Peterson, a Democrat, in the general election race.

In District 14, Linda Hanks almost doubled the votes of her opponent, clinching about 65% compared to opponent Nichole Beecher Isom's 35%, or 2,976 and 1,603 votes, respectively. Hanks has served as the president of the Juab School Board and Isom has experience in special education, curriculum development and education management.

Hanks will face off against Democratic candidate Danielle Stratton in November.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Related topics

Utah electionsUtahPoliticsUtah County

Cassidy Wixom

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Cassidy Wixom is an award-winning reporter for KSL. She covers Utah County communities, arts and entertainment, and breaking news. Cassidy graduated from BYU before joining KSL in 2022.