Summit County Democrats selected housing and workforce advocate Megan McKenna as their nominee for County Council Seat C on Tuesday, earning her a spot on the Nov. 5 ballot with Republican opponent Ari Ioannides. 

The longtime Parkite earned about 55% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Summit County Clerk’s Office. She was challenged by Snyderville Basin Planning Commissioner Thomas Cooke in the primary. He won 1,186 votes, or 45%. 

A total of 2,605 Democrats voted for a County Council candidate with overall turnout among party members around 38%. There were 7,716 overall ballots cast in the primary election as of Wednesday afternoon with 42% voter turnout countywide.

Neither McKenna nor Cooke could secure 60% of the delegate vote at the party’s nominating convention in March. There was a split tie between the candidates, opening the election to all Summit County Democrats.

McKenna has been working to increase the margin since then by meeting with voters and attending community events as well as public meetings to share her inspiration for running. The 10% margin was an indicator for her that the hard work paid off.

“We were able to spread the word and stay true to our platform without getting too distracted by some of the tactics that were used to persuade voters (toward the other candidate),” she said. “What my platform stands for, future-forward with a focus on sustainability and affordability, I think that really resonated with voters.”

An anonymous, unsolicited email was dispatched in the weeks leading up to the election claiming “developers love Megan McKenna.” The message, signed by a group called Residents Against Sprawl, was critical of the former high school science teacher turned community activist. 

McKenna said she was disappointed in the spread of misinformation, but she wasn’t deterred from maintaining an honest campaign and instead focused on making her voice heard. The Democrat expects to take a similar stance when engaging in respectful debate with Ioannides later this fall.

Although it’s been almost a decade since a Republican was voted into office in Summit County, the Democratic nominee is anticipating another competitive campaign. McKenna expects the upcoming election will emphasize the candidates’ differences in perspective and experience.

“I just want to continue to reach out to Summit County residents and hear more and more people. I think the approach will be even broader and we’ve got a little bit more time to get out into neighborhoods and knock on doors,” she said. “The county is changing, as we’ve seen in recent years, so I’m not taking anything for granted. I will work just as hard in this next phase of the campaign as I did in the first.”

Ioannides, the former executive director of the Park City Institute, considers himself a moderate Republican. His platform emphasizes a need for more representation on the County Council in terms of political party and residency. 

Seats are not assigned based on geography and only one of the five sitting members — who are all Democrats — lives in eastern Summit County. Ioannides lives in Wanship. 

County Council Chair Malena Stevens currently occupies Seat C. She is not seeking reelection. Stevens campaigned in support of McKenna.

Cooke called McKenna to congratulate her on the win and for running a great campaign. He wished her luck in the general election.

“Yesterday morning I got up and was met with the disappointing news that I didn’t win my primary race for Summit County Seat C,” Cooke said Thursday in a video message to supporters. “It was really humbling and gratifying even though I lost. I’m a believer in our institutions and elections and letting the public decide, although those results were personally disappointing, it’s still gratifying to serve and I’ll continue to do so.”

Other primary election results:

South Summit voters selected two nonpartisan candidates to move forward to November for Seat 2 on the South Summit School District Board of Education. Incumbent Dan Eckert was the top choice with 172 votes. Garrett Carpenter will also advance as he earned 111 votes. 

Sixty-five votes separated Carpenter from third-place candidate Rex Anderson. James Blazzard received 57 votes.

Rep. John Curtis, who represents Summit County in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, is expected to take over Sen. Mitt Romney’s seat. Curtis earned 2,492 votes, or almost 52%. He faces Democrat and Parkite Caroline Gleich this fall.

State Sen. Mike Kennedy won the Republican nomination to Curtis’ open seat in the House. Summit County Democrat Glenn Wright, a former county councilor, will challenge him.

Rep. Blake Moore dominated the race for U.S. House District 1, which includes portions of Summit County. The Republican received 1,995 votes compared to the 814 received by challenger Paul Miller.

The Democratic candidate for Utah House District 23, currently held by House Minority Leader Brian King who is running for state governor, was also decided. Summit County voters slightly favored Jeff Howell over Hoang Nguyen in the local contest. 

However, Nguyen won about 57% of the statewide vote. Republican Scott Romney and United Utah candidate Cabot Nelson will appear alongside her on the ballot.

About 97% of Summit County ballots were counted as of midweek. The election results will be certified by the County Council in early July.