Wilson maintains Salt Lake County mayoral race lead; $507M bond tumbles again

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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson maintained a healthy lead in her bid to retain her role over Utah's most populated county, a day after she said she was feeling "pretty comfortable" about reelection changes.

Wilson, a Democrat, is ahead of Republican challenger Erin Rider, but her lead narrowed a bit, 56% to 44%, according to the latest ballot counts released Wednesday evening. Wilson opened to a 59% to 42% lead after initial results were released.

Wilson said Tuesday she was "pleased about the margin." Rider's campaign staffers said they planned to monitor additional results before making any decisions.

There are still plenty of ballots left to be counted, according to the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office. It reports that it has now processed nearly 400,000 ballots, but almost 130,000 additional ballots were still being processed as of 8 p.m. Wednesday.

That includes nearly 15,000 provisional ballots, largely given to same-day registration voters.

Meanwhile, the $507 million public safety/jail bond that Wilson advocated for in the final weeks before the election — and Rider opposed — took another tumble. Votes against the bond now lead votes for the bond, 51.6% to 48.4%.

The difference jumped from about 2,000 Tuesday night to 4,000 early Wednesday. The gap is now about 10,800 as of Wednesday night.

It would help the county pay for new county jail beds, along with expanded mental health treatment options, a unit helping people who are leaving jail to "rejoin society," a new justice and accountability center, and a lower-security facility for low-level repeat offenders.

Wilson said Tuesday night that she would closely track the results, but it wasn't immediately clear what will happen if it fails. She hinted that — if she remains in office — the county could explore other ways to pay for related projects.

"It's quite comprehensive, and I think if the public is willing to take on the full comprehensive approach, then we're not going to stop at Salt Lake County. We're going to work through the priority issues and go from there," she said.

There were no leadership changes in the four Salt Lake County Council races between Tuesday and Wednesday, but some races narrowed while others widened. For example, Natalie Pinkney's lead for the third at-large seat is now 51.1% to 48.9%. She had led Rachelle Morris 54.3% to 46.6% in the initial results.

Salt Lake County Councilwoman Dea Theodore, the only incumbent on the ballot, extended her lead over Zach Robinson in the District 6 race. What was at first a 151-vote lead is now up to over 3,000 votes.

It's unclear when all the remaining ballots will be counted. All results aren't official until the county's board of canvassers meets on Nov. 19 to certify the election.