Grantsville elects first female mayor; other unofficial results in Tooele County races

TOOELE — Cities in Tooele County will see changes in leadership, as several current mayors chose not to seek reelection in Tuesday's general municipal election.

Here's a look at how some of the races are shaping up as of Wednesday evening.

Tooele city

Tooele Mayor Debbie Winn is wrapping up her second and final term in office.

Unofficial results, last updated at 4:44 p.m. Wednesday, show City Councilwoman Meresa Manzione poised to take over the seat with 59% of the votes.

"Thank you Tooele city for your support in this election! Thanks to the others who ran in the election for mayor and city council. We have great people willing to serve our community," she wrote in a Facebook post early Wednesday morning.

Her challenger, former Councilman Brad Pratt, was trailing at 42%.

Manzione, who has served on the City Council for five years, said her focus as Tooele's next mayor will be on prioritizing better roads and highways, keeping taxes low as well as growing the job economy, according to her campaign website.

"I love Tooele, and I am humbled and excited to serve as your next mayor. I look forward to working together to make Tooele an even better place to live, work, and shop," she added.

Manzione would become the city's second female mayor.

Winn, who took office in 2018, delivered her final state of the city address in September.

She reflected on her eight years of service, noting investments made in public safety, economic growth, and improvements to city facilities, among other accomplishments.

"The state of our city is strong, and its future is even brighter," she said during her speech at the September event.

Tooele's City Council also has two seats up for grabs.

Jon Gossett, who serves on the city's Planning Commission, had 30% of the votes and appears on track to take one of the open seats, unofficial results show.

Current Councilman Dave McCall looks poised for reelection with 29.48% of the votes.

Grantsville

In Grantsville, there were also no incumbents on the ballot. Councilwomen Heidi B. Hammond and Jolene Jenkins faced off for the role.

Current Mayor Neil Critchlow was not seeking reelection.

Either result of the competition means the 158-year-old city will have its first-ever female mayor.

Hammond had a strong lead over Jenkins, with 67% of the vote in the unofficial results, to Jenkins' 32.61%.

Hammond told KSL.com in a statement that she is excited to take the reins and lead the community that she loves.

"I ran for City Council two years ago, hoping to improve the aesthetics of our Main Street, improve and increase needed park and recreation space, and to ensure that our traffic plan was adequate for our growing community," she said.

Hammond said in a Facebook post last month that she knows the issues she has worked to address so far just scratch the surface of residents' concerns, and she's appreciative of those who have engaged with her so far regarding matters in the city.

"I feel we have made great progress and am looking forward to working hard for continued improvements. Amazing people live in Grantsville, and I am grateful for this opportunity," she said in her statement to KSL.com.

Grantsville is also selecting two people to serve on the City Council.

Preliminary results show current Councilman Jake Thomas in a tight three-way battle with Derek Dalton and Tom Tripp.

Thomas was in the lead with 1,776 votes, while Dalton had 1,652 votes and Tripp had 1,534.

Other races

Elsewhere in Tooele County, the city of Erda did not have a mayoral election, but residents voted for City Council seats.

In City Council District 2, Kyle Matthews was outpacing Jeff McNeill with 65% of the votes.

It was a tighter race in the unofficial results for Erda City Council District 4, with Lawrence Kimpel at 52.49% to Craig Smith's 47.51%. For context, 11 votes were separating the two contenders for that seat.

More results can be found by going to the state's elections website.

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