Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
Add a new milestone in the history of the Salt Lake City Council. If this week’s unofficial election results hold up, an analysis from The Salt Lake Tribune shows, the powerful seven-member panel governing Utah’s capital will be majority female for the first time at least since the council expanded from five to seven members in 1980. That’s along with already being majority LGBTQ+ and having four ethnic minority members — while also confirming just how much of an island the council is from Utah’s largely white and conservative elected leadership. The City Council will join the Salt Lake County Council as being majority women. Women also have the helm of the executive branches at City Hall and the County Government Center, with Mayors Erin Mendenhall and Jenny Wilson, respectively. The City Council’s newest member, Erika Carlsen for the city’s Ballpark-anchored District 5, is proudly queer and Latina, she said in an interview. “When I decided to run for the Salt Lake City Council, it wasn’t to make history or to be part of ‘firsts,’” Carlsen said in a statement. “I ran to make a difference in my neighborhood. However, I am so proud to be joining a historic City Council. Majority Latino. Majority LGBTQ+. Majority female. Growing up, that would have felt out of reach, but one of the things I love the most about Salt Lake is how many different people find their home here.” Winning with a handy margin for that south-central district as she has, Carlsen, a community and youth organizer and successful fundraiser, will now buttress a four-member LGBTQ+ majority on the council, replacing Darin Mano, a gay man of Japanese descent who is stepping down. She also shifts the council’s existing minority majority to all Latino. That’s along with incumbents Alejandro Puy and Eva Lopez Chavez, who did not face voters this cycle, as well as Victoria Petro, who appeared to be on her way to a second consecutive term in her west-side District 1 seat. Sarah Young, in Sugar House-centered District 7, ran unopposed this year. Tuesday’s election tallies, determined via ranked choice voting, show Carlsen took 66% of the District 5 vote. She outdistanced Ballpark Community Council Chair Amy Hawkins, who got 31%, and perennial candidate Vance Hansen, with 3%, according to partial returns. The district encompasses the neighborhoods of Ballpark, Central Ninth, Liberty Wells and East Liberty Park. In her election night declaration as results trickled in, Carlsen said voters had told her they are seeking responsive representation at City Hall “that is deeply grounded in community.” Third term for Wharton retains LGBTQ+ majority This week’s victory for current council Chair Chris Wharton, in the Avenues-focused District 3, was something of a milestone as well: returning him for a third four-year term. Wharton, an attorney and business owner, took 51% of Tuesday’s result, besting his closest challengers, software executive Blake McClary, with 28%; and self-described stay-at-home mom and diabetes advocate Liddy Huntsman-Hernandez, who grabbed 21% of the vote, partial returns showed. Under ranked choice rules, two other challengers — health care worker David Berg and judicial assistant and business owner Jake Seastrand — were eliminated in early counting. District 3 spans the Avenues, Capitol Hill, Federal Heights and portions of the Guadalupe and Marmalade neighborhoods. Third terms have been relatively uncommon in city politics, both mayoral and on the council. Tribune research indicates that four council members in the city’s history have earned that distinction, although a couple of those included partial terms: Sydney Fonnesbeck, Tom Godfrey, Carleton Christensen and Jill Remington Love. Wharton’s win also maintains the council’s bloc of four LGBTQ+ members, along with Puy, Lopez Chavez and, now, Carlsen. It’s a majority ripe with symbolism in a GOP-dominated state, where many view the capital as a haven for the LGBTQ+ community. In Wharton’s victory statement Tuesday night, he highlighted his eight years of experience on a council that has seen a lot of turnover recently, describing himself as “honored, humbled, and thrilled to have earned the trust of District 3.” Wharton also struck a forward-looking tone, saying he wanted to ensure city residents were “harnessing our full potential so that future generations, including my daughter, can enjoy all of the amazing opportunities that Salt Lake City has to offer.” Petro prevails in District 1 Petro’s apparent victory this week means she’ll have a second consecutive term in the city’s west-side District 1, which takes in the Rose Park, Westpointe, Jordan Meadows and Northpointe neighborhoods, along with a piece of Fairpark. Petro, who has so far been an unabashed advocate for the needs of west-siders, took 52% of the vote on election night, outpacing challenger Stephen Otterstrom, a human resources consultant who got 48%, partial returns showed. A third candidate, Muslim community leader and business owner Yussuf Abdi, dropped out in October and gave his support to Petro, who is a business and nonprofit consultant. Petro’s evident win now puts her front and center on some of the most contentious topics before City Hall, including the state’s proposed 1,300-bed homeless services campus and attempts to improve public safety for west-side residents. With election results still coming in, Petro has not commented on her apparent victory.
