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West Jordan Journal

Early election results for West Jordan's historic election

Nov 05, 2019 10:53PM ● By Erin Dixon

By Erin Dixon| [email protected]

In West Jordan city's historic mayoral election Dirk Burton leads incumbent Mayor Jim Riding with 52.43% of the vote, according to unofficial election results provided by the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office. 

The election is the first that West Jordan has held for its new "strong mayor" form of government. Starting in 2020, the Mayor position in West Jordan will function as the "executive" of the city. Up until now the Mayor was a member of the city council, and the city manager oversaw the city's executive branch. 

Dirk Burton is currently the councilmember for District 2 and has served in that position since 2016. 

The city will also have a new at-large seat that replaces the previous mayor position under the City Manager form of government. In that race, Kelvin Green currently projects as the winner with 47% of the votes. Mikey Smith and an unspecified write-in candidate won 31% and 21% of the vote, respectively. Green is currently a West Jordan Planning commissioner and owns a local business. 

District 1 appears to be the city's closest race, with current councilmember Christopher McConnehey leading with 50.61% of the vote, to Marilyn Richards 49.39%. That translates to a difference of only 35 votes. Because the results are unofficial, the result could easily swing one way or another. McConnehey has served as the representative for District 1 since 2012. He is currently the longest sitting councilmember. 

District 2's representative will be Melissa Worthen, who appears to have defeated John Price in a landslide with 81% of the vote. Worthen has many awards for community service including “The Extra Mile Award” from West Jordan City for her work in 2016 to build a park, organize a fundraiser for the animal shelter and volunteering for several other city events. She is also currently a member of the Women Leadership Institute of Utah. (Editor's note: Melissa Worthen is a former employee of the City Journals.)

District 3 councilmember Zach Jacob appears to have retained his seat as he leads Amy Martz with 57% of the vote. Jacob has served district 3 since 2016 and is a local business owner. 

In the District 4 race, David Pack holds a 54-46 lead over Pamela Berry. Pack has served as chairman of the Planning Commission and other local committees. He also owns a local business and has several post-doctorate certificates in leadership and management from Stanford and Harvard universities.

The two remaining at-large seats are retained by Chad Lamb and Kayleen Whitelock until the next election in two year. 

These numbers were listed by the county on Nov 5. Winning candidates will not be officially announced until November 19 at the City Council meeting.  Final results may change.