Summit County was one of two out of 29 counties in Utah that experienced delays in election night reporting, causing preliminary results to go unreleased after 11:40 p.m. Tuesday.
Duchesne County also hadn’t released preliminary results. Wasatch County was also delayed, but began reporting shortly before 11:30 p.m.
The Summit County delays were the result of careful tabulation by the county clerk’s office, according to Eve Furse, the county clerk. Several County Courthouse races, including county attorney, sheriff and clerk, allowed for write-in candidates and took additional time to count.
Two candidates also withdrew their campaigns, furthering delays. Michael Franchek dropped out of the Summit County Council race and Alan Siddoway withdrew his campaign for sheriff, according to Furse.
In the closely watched campaign for the U.S. Senate, incumbent Republican Mike Lee was apparently reelected with a convincing win over unaffiliated candidate Evan McMullin. Lee won 55.2% of the vote in the statewide tally while McMullin took 41.4%, with over 50% of the vote reported
In the 3rd Congressional District, the Republican incumbent, John Curtis, was easily reelected in early returns with 67.2% of the vote. Democrat Glenn Wright, a retiring member of the Summit County Council, received 27.4% in his bid to unseat Curtis.
In the 1st Congressional District, Congressman Blake Moore was reelected by a wide margin in early results, garnering 70% of the vote. His Democratic opponent, Rick Jones, received 30%.